Let Me
by YonderB
Summary: A series on Leon and Cloud's ever-changing relationship, how the two act toward eachother, and the occasional problems their 'friendship' causes. -bad summary- Eventual LeonCloudLeon. Based on the titles of the chapters. Rated for later chapters. COMPLETE
1. Let Me Serve You

It was early in the morning when Leon awoke, the sun had barely risen over Hollow Bastion. The dark-haired Gunblade-wielder moved through the small halls of Merlin's house, hands tucked in his pockets, his fur collar tickling at his ears.

The moment he entered the kitchen, he heard the soft sound of breathing floating through the small arched doorway which connected the kitchen to the livingroom. Leon slowly made his way to the doorway, his hand placed on the hilt of his Gunblade, which hung from his hip, his fingers stroking the smooth metal.

Leaning his shoulder against the arch, Leon's stormy, grey-blue eyes wandered the dark livingroom, finally setting on a figure sitting in one of the recliners.

The moment his eyes fixed on a messy head of golden hair, Leon's hand fell from his Gunblade.

Cloud sat on one of the recliners, head tilted back ever so slightly, eyes closed, his breathing even and quiet. The blonde man was known for disappearing for months on end, and then appearing early in the morning without a word of where he'd been, or what he's been doing.

Leon's eyes floated over Cloud's sleeping form. Even unconscious; the blonde man was elegant. His legs were crossed at the ankle, and his arms placed neatly on the arms of the recliner.

"It's rude to stare," came a breathy whisper.

Snapping his eyes up to Cloud's face, Leon only just noticed the tiny glint of blue under the other man's lashes.

"It's rude to enter a home uninvited," Leon returned, leaning more of his weight on the shoulder pressed against the arch between the kitchen and livingroom, opting for an uninterested stance, despite the fact nearly all his attention was on the blonde.

The edge of Cloud's mouth twitched upwards, giving Leon a quick glint of white teeth. "Uninvited?" he questioned, his voice a quiet croak. Leon guessed that Cloud hadn't used it in at least a month. "I've been urged to stay here."

"Not by me."

Again, Leon was granted a glint of white teeth in the form of a smirk. "Alpha-male or not, I'm not going to report to you every time I do something." Cloud breathed. He had yet to move any part of his body besides his mouth, and even then, Leon barely noticed.

"Alpha-male?" smirked the brunette. "Aren't you going to offer me competition for the title?" Personally, the title amused him to no end. He found it fitting, to a certain extent, but he preferred just plain 'Leon'.

Cloud let out a quiet exhale through his nose, in what Leon knew was his version of an amused snort. "Ah, Leonhart," sighed the blonde, his eyes fluttering half-open, glowing an unearthly blue in the semi-darkness, watching the other man through his blonde eyelashes. "I'm not much one for harems and ripping off chunks of flesh." The edge of his mouth twitched up again. "So uncivilized."

The brunette nodded, bowing his head to hide his smirk. Leon turned back to the kitchen. An idea struck him, and he paused, before looking back at Cloud, who had yet to move, his blue eyes still on him.

"... Coffee?" Leon offered, flicking his head in the direction of the cabinet that usually held the coffee, his fringe swaying from the action.

The blonde thought about it for a moment, before closing his eyes and bowing his head in a single nod. Leon murmured an 'okay', before turning away completely and moving to make two coffees.

A few minutes later of complete silence, Leon entered the livingroom with a hot mug of coffee in one hand –two sugars, and depending on the time of day, cream– , a piece of toast in the other. He held the warm drink in front of Cloud, who just looked at it, then at Leon.

Pursing his lips in irritation, Leon carefully lowered the mug down to the armrest of the couch, keeping it balanced on the soft material as Cloud's gloved fingers slowly curled around it. After a moment, making sure Cloud had a good enough grip of the mug, he let his hand drop back to his side, and looked back at the blonde.

"You should be a housemaid," the blonde smirked.

Leon took it as a 'thank you', gave Cloud a quick kick to the shin in return –his own little 'you're welcome'–, and walked back into the kitchen to make the rest of his breakfast.

((TBC. It is with great reluctance I post this first chapter of my 'Let Me' series. Yet another one of my LeonCloud fanfictions that has crawled itself out of the rotting, foul confines of my brain, bribed my fingers to work double-time with promises of gay porn, and finally got itself out onto an ever-expanding file. It was only supposed to be ten chapters long, but, as soon as I started planning them out, the ten chapters suddenly turned into twenty-one. Be not afraid, the chapters won't be too long. Hopefully. Seems to me, my fics don't care what I think, and they do whatever they want. Fuck. Well, enjoy, and please. Review. I like reviews. They're like cookies.))


	2. Let Me Help You

Leon was eating his breakfast when Aerith appeared in the doorway, still adjusting the pink bow in her warm brown hair. She smiled at Leon as she passed him, and he motioned toward the livingroom with his half-eaten toast, taking a sip of his half-empty coffee.

Curious, Aerith placed her arms by her sides and walked to the arch separating the livingroom from the kitchen. A warm smile spread across her face at the sight of Cloud sitting in one of the reclining chairs, legs crossed at the ankle, a mug of warm coffee placed against his lips.

"Cloud," she greeted, talking a step forward.

Blue eyes looked over the rim of the mug, and it was quickly lowered. "Aerith," Cloud murmured back. The beautiful lady walked up to him and placed one of her warm hands on his, gently stoking her thumb over it. Cloud looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

Aerith smiled back, though, hers was wider. Leaning over gently, she placed a kiss on Cloud's forehead. His eyes closed. It was her own kind of greeting, really. A blessing. If there was one thing Cloud thought he needed, it was blessings.

Moving back again, Aerith moved her hand which was on Cloud's hand, to his shoulder. His eyes fluttered open, and stared up at her.

"Come and eat something," she prompted gently, giving his shoulder a soft squeeze. Cloud would often go days without food, but, Aerith when would tell him to do so, he would.

Pausing for only a moment, he nodded and heaved himself out of the couch, the mug Leon had given him, now empty, swinging from his fingertips. Aerith lead him to the kitchen, a hand on his back, as though the other would turn and run if she was not there.

Leon looked up as Cloud and Aerith entered the kitchen, chewing on his toast. Aerith placed Cloud in the chair opposite Leon, and looked at the other brunette. "Would you like some pancakes, Leon?" she offered. Leon nodded in assent. Aerith was quite the cook.

"And _you_," Aerith looked at Cloud, and tapped him lightly on the nose, making the blonde one blink. "You're eating something too." With that, she turned to the fridge to get the ingredients for pancakes.

The male brunette grinned into his toast. "You are _so_ whipped." His gibe was barely audible, but he knew Cloud could hear him.

"And you're a pussy," Cloud returned, pretending to rub the back of his hand against his mouth, muffling his voice so Leon was the only one who heard what he'd said.

Aerith looked over her shoulder at the sound of Leon choking on his toast.

By the time the the pancakes were done, the smell of the food had floated all through Merlin's house and awoken many of the residence. Cid was already hacking away at his computer, Merlin had disappeared somewhere, claiming that the ozone needed him, Tifa was sitting beside Cloud, trying to get him into a conversation and failing, and Yuffie was in the shower.

Aerith placed plates of pancakes in front of all of them, balancing Cid's plate carefully on a chair beside the older man.

They all ate in silence, Cloud's sudden appearance taken in stride. Cid had greeted the younger blonde with a slap on the back and a hearty 'nice to see you're still alive, Spike!', while Tifa had merely smiled and said hello.

At the sound of a string of sniffs, Leon looked up, to find Yuffie leading herself into the kitchen, her eyes closed, and her nose high in the air. Funny what the smell of decent food can do.

Opening his eyes, Yuffie spotted the pancakes at once, and let out a triumphant whoop, making a grab for the closest plate. Which, coincidentally, was Cloud's. Not a man to take any shit from anyone, even if it was a breakfast-stealing ninja, Cloud grabbed his plate and yanked it away form her.

And thus, Yuffie ended up sprawled across his lap.

Pouting magnificently, Yuffie heaved herself up, turning to the one who had foiled her plans for food, her eyes immediately lighting up at the sight of Cloud's face.

"_CLOUDSTER!_" she squealed, throwing her arms up in the air, the blonde wincing at the volume of her voice, and the close range. "WELCOME BACK, CLOUDIE!" With that, she sprang forward, and threw her arms around his neck.

Cloud's chair teetered on the back two legs from the force of Yuffie's over-affectionate glomp, and Leon quickly shot out a foot, placing it between Cloud's legs, against the seat of the chair, and pushing down, the front two legs of the chair meeting the floor again with a _clack_.

The blonde man gave Leon a quick, semi-relieved glance, lying on the floor with Yuffie on top of him hardly his idea of a good time, patting the excited girl on the shoulder awkwardly.

Leon just gave him a look that clearly said '_I didn't do that. I would've liked to see you humiliated._'

The blonde scoffed quietly, dislodging Yuffie from around his neck, the young girl giving him a bright grin. "You gonna stay here?" she chirped, seating herself on Cloud's lap, much to the dismay of the blonde. "We've got a spare room!"

Cloud's eyes looked over Yuffie's head, to Leon. Despite what he'd said, he was going to ask for permission this time. Leon shrugged in an uncaring fashion. He didn't really mind.

Looking back down at Yuffie, Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I'll stay."

Cid flinched at the sound of Yuffie squealing again, dropping one of his pancakes on the keyboard. His curses were, luckily, drowned out by the ninja's happy whoops and the sounds of Leon trying to get her to shut up.

((TBC. The only thing I like about this chapter is the little exchange of insults between Cloud and Leon, and Aerith being nice. I was in a slump when I wrote this. I'm already working on the fourth chapter, but, don't expect the updates to be posted daily. I'm not awesome. The series is basically came about because of the titles of the chapters, then, I just wrote what I thought would work with it, and the gay is just a bonus. Again, please read and review! I'll love you for it!))


	3. Let Me Calm You

Leon walked through the Bailey, Gunblade hanging from his hip, hands in his pockets. The moon was gleaming, high above Hollow Bastion, stars and worlds twinkling around it. It was at least four am, Leon guessed.

Cloud had been staying at Merlin's for a week now. It was like he'd never left. He'd appear and disappear, but he would always be in the same bed near the end of the hall eventually.

Pushing the door of Merlin's house open, Leon walked through the forest of cushions and couches, before walking down the hallway to his bedroom, at the end of the hall.

Unhooking his Gunblade, Leon placed his hand on the doorknob of his room, but paused.

Floating sideways, storm grey-blue eyes surveyed the closed door standing there, just a few inches away from Leon's shoulder. No sound emanated from behind that door, no smell, no taste; but Leon felt the need to open it to see if the occupant; Cloud, was alright.

Placing his Gunblade against his own door, Leon turned to Cloud's and placed his hand on the doorknob. He didn't know why but he had a feeling that Cloud might need him, but, he guessed, he might as well see if the blonde was all right, anyway.

Turning the doorknob gently, no squeak, no sound giving him away, Leon let the door open half-way, and he let his eyes adjust to the pitch-blackness.

Lying on the bed in the centre of the sparse room was Cloud, his body turned on his side, facing Leon, the highest arm just placed so it lay, slightly stretched out, the palm placed flat on the blade of his Buster, which lay parallel, in front of him on the mattress, the other arm pulled against his chest, the hand against his face, fingers curled gently and shielding his eyes from any light that entered the room.

Leon had learnt that Cloud always slept like that. One hand covering his eyes, the other against his sword.

He never moved while he slept, and if he did, he was either in pain, or having another nightmare. Stormy eyes staring at the blonde's ribcage, Leon counted twelve seconds between every breath Cloud took. Each breath was hardly a breath at all. His ribs only elevated a millimetre or so, then went back down again.

There was a quiet scratching sound, and Leon watched as the hand placed on the blade of the Buster slowly curled it's fingers, Cloud's nails scratching lightly at the sharpened metal.

The brunette smiled a little. Cloud knew he was there, even when he was unconscious.

Turning away, Leon went to close the door, but, at that moment, Cloud twitched. It wasn't an outrageous movement, merely a slight tug of his leg than anything else, but, it caused the brunette to pause and look back at him.

The hand against the Buster sword tightened into a fist and Cloud grimaced, pushing his nose into pillow, the fingers shielding his eyes twitching sharply. Leon watched, his hand on the doorknob, wondering briefly if he should wake the blonde up or leave him to wake up on his own.

Finally, Leon just leant his shoulder against the doorway and watched the blonde battle against his nightmares, dark shadows that only he could see, and only he could stop. Cloud twitched occasionally. Sometimes his shoulder, maybe his neck, his hand, or even maybe his leg. The blonde let in a shuddering gasp, his throat raspy and tight. Leon crossed his arms, eyes intent as he watched.

"... I didn't mean it..." Cloud whispered, sounding more like a beaten child than the toned adult he was; his voice tiny and shaking, tremors flitting through his body, the simple, loose black shirt and shorts he wore, not hiding his shaking from stormy eyes.

Leon did nothing.

"I didn't mean to kill everyone..."

This upset whisper caught the brunette's attention, straitening a little in the doorway.

"I killed them all. I didn't mean it."

The sleeping male let out a dry sob, the only one of it's kind that Leon had ever heard come from him, the brunette moving away from the doorway to take a step into the dark room, his arms falling by his sides.

"All of them. Dead. Aeris, Yuffie, Cid..." Cloud let out a breathy, mirthless chuckle. "It's _my fault..._" His breathing had quickened from twelve seconds between breaths, to four seconds.

The brunette stood over Cloud's bed, arms hanging by his sides, before he rose a hand a let it hover over the blonde's shoulder. Leon sighed and gently placed his fingertips to the blonde's neck, feeling for a pulse.

The blonde's pulse was always hard to find if he was calm. Like his breathing, it would be slow, and so weak that it was hard to notice. But, Cloud was so upset, Leon found it easily.

Instead of the record of three beats a minute, which impressed Leon to no bounds, there was hardly a pause of a second before there was another heartbeat. Cloud was practically in cardiac arrest, compared to any other 'normal' person.

There was a quiet, breathy laugh from the blonde. "_It's my fault..._" he whispered.

The Gunblade-wielder had heard enough. "No one is dead, Strife." he said in a quiet, but firm voice. He didn't want to wake the other, incase Cloud forgot where he was and attacked him –it had happened once before–, and hoped the blonde would listen to him and sort out his nightmare for himself.

There was silence from the sleeper, and Leon wondered if he should repeat himself, slowly removing his fingers from the blonde's neck. Cloud's hand which was clenched into a fist on the blade of his sword loosened only slightly, but the brunette caught the movement.

"_No one_, you hear me?" Leon continued, slipping his hands into his pockets, eyes still fixed on Cloud's fist, which loosened a little more. "It's not your fault."

"... It's not my fault...?" Cloud murmured, his voice quiet and confused, his hand finally lying flat against the blade of the Buster sword, relaxed.

"Lots of things are your fault, Strife," Leon smirked, staring down at the sleeping blonde, happy that the shadows in Cloud's dreams were no longer chasing him. "But, killing everyone isn't one of them."

The tiniest of smiles flickered across Cloud's face, and Leon turned away, walking back to the door, ready for some sleep himself. Cloud no longer needed him, so, he could sleep. Mission accomplished.

Behind Cloud's fingers, his eyes fluttered open. Leon didn't notice the glint of blue between the blonde's fingers which followed his movements, but, he was too tired to care, anyway. Closing the door behind him, Leon walked into his room, pulled off his shirt and pants, changing into a pair of loose shorts, before he plopped himself onto his bed, and promptly fell fast asleep.

In Cloud's room, the blonde was having slightly more difficulty sleeping. His mind was just filled with that deep, warm voice that had whispered things he couldn't remember and made the pictures and feelings of horror flee, and helped him pull away from the darkness.

He didn't care that Leon had been in his room. He was too _confused_ to care. Who's voice did he hear in his dream? Why was it there?

Blue glinted again from between Cloud's fingers, flickering in the direction of the door in the pitch-black room, the blue lowered again, before disappearing completely.

He'd think about it in the morning.

((TBC. Okay. I lied. This is going to be updated sort-of-daily, since I'm writing the chapters faster than I expected. I'm already on the seventh one. This chapter is just a reason for me to write Cloud sleeping in the position he's described. I've wanted to write about it for a while. Hope you liked it, and the next chapter will be up in a day or so. Maybe. If I haven't jinxed it. Again, please read and review.))


	4. Let Me Fight You

It's been a month since Leon had intruded into Cloud's room to find the blonde having a nightmare. The blonde had come and gone from Hollow Bastion, but, only for a day or two, before coming back again. The brunette never said anything about the nightmare, acting like it never happened, and the blonde seemed to think it never happened either. He was probably asleep for the whole thing, Leon thought.

The Gunblade-weilder roamed the streets of Hollow Bastion, the sun glowing high overhead. Around noon, maybe. Slashing his blade through a heartless, rendering the little black creature headless for a second, before it disappeared in a puff of smoke, Leon slashed at another heartless without even looking at it. They were small-fry. Nothing to get excited about.

Continuing through the streets, Leon slashed at any available heartless, quickly defeating them before moving on. Sora passed him with a cheery wave, showing off his new Keyblade by smashing it into a floating heartless a few times, Donald and Goofy running after him.

Leon chuckled, the teen's blatant show of excitement at a new weapon amused him as he walked into the marketplace, stormy eyes roaming around the shops, before landing on a dark, brooding lump sitting by one of the fountains.

"Keep doing that, and it'll stick that way," Leon smirked as he came to stand near Cloud, who sat with his back against a wall beside one of the fountains, a sour look on his face, and, _even_ if any person who stated it would die a long, _bloody_ and _painful_ death, Leon had to admit; he thought Cloud was pouting.

"Shut up, fuckwad," Cloud stated flatly, knees coming a little closer to his chest.

Yup. Pouting.

Only one way to stop Cloud pouting and moping around in his self-loathing; Raising his Gunblade, which was still held in his hand, Leon took half a step forward and grazed the tip of the blade against the blonde's neck. Leon felt it was his duty to stop the blonde wallowing in his own misery. He didn't know why, he just did.

Stormy eyes watched the thin red line the tip of the blade had caused in Cloud's tanned skin, tiny beads of blood weeping through the shallow cut, some clinging to the end of Leon's Gunblade, which hovered above the blonde's jugular.

Cloud did nothing. Though, he was no longer pouting. He just sat there for a long moment, face blank, eyes staring over his knees at nothing in particular. Finally, his eyes floated to the side, then upwards, meeting Leon's own grey-blue ones, a tiny smirk appearing Cloud's face.

"Shall we take this somewhere private?" he questioned lightly, white teeth glinting, more of a challenge than anything else. Leon nodded and Cloud rose to his feet, grasping his sword by his side, the brunette's blade still pointed at his throat.

Only way to get Cloud to stop moping: Fight him.

The Gunblade slowly moved down from Cloud's throat, grazing his collar, down his chest, before dropping to scrape the tip against the stone ground. Cloud turned away, smirk melting off, and walked out of the market-place, Leon following behind.

The two males made their way through Hollow Bastion in silence, Cloud leading, Leon following. They made their way through the Crystal Fissure and Leon vaguely thought that Cloud's eyes were the same kind of luminescent blue as the crystals. Finally entering The Great Maw, Leon only just threw his weight sideways to see a flash of steel slam into the ground he'd been standing on a millisecond before.

Flipping backwards and landing a few metres away, the brunette gave Cloud a reprimanding look. "No warning?" he questioned. Cloud usually waited to when he was ready to fight. The blonde must've been especially moody.

Cloud gave him the finger, and yanked his Buster sword from the ground where Leon had stood before; where it had caused a large crack in the purplish stoney ground. Leon sighed and tightened his grip on his Gunblade.

The fight was nearly dead-even, as it usually was. Cloud had brute strength and speed, while Leon had strategy and a nimble body. Sometimes, Cloud would be the stronger, and sometimes Leon would be. It just depended how they were feeling on the day, but, in the end, there wasn't much of a gap between them.

"What's the matter, Strife?" Leon called halfway through the fight, a bleeding cut across his cheek, a –thankfully– shallow cut down his spine, and numerous bruises. "You're slipping."

Indeed Cloud was. He seemed distracted. Leon had already cut across the blonde's shoulder, given him a shallow stab in the leg, and he had a few more bruises than he usually got.

"Thinking," Cloud grunted after lunging at Leon's face, the brunette only just yanking his head to the side, seeing the reflection of his bleeding cheek in the gleaming metal blade a few millimetres from his face, before he skidded to the side, feeling a tiny cut in his shoulder make it's presence known.

"About?" He prompted. Usually, when Cloud fought, it was like the blonde already knew what Leon was going to do, and acted accordingly. But, today, Cloud was fidgeting, looking away, and stumbling. Leon sliced sharply at Cloud's arm, the swing easily could've taken off the limb completely, but the blonde yanked it out of range just in time, the tip of the Gunblade only just cutting into his flesh.

A sharp jolt shot through Cloud's body, the blonde's head snapping away, his grip on his sword tightening then loosening in a split second, the tip of the massive blade hitting the ground.

Both men were silent, Cloud's head turned away from Leon and bowed, his golden fringe hiding his eyes from view, the tip of his sword against the ground, his grip on the hilt slack, the arm Leon had just cut into barely shaking, the only visible sign was the sleeve that covered it, which quivered slightly in the still air.

Leon watched Cloud silently, his Gunblade brushing the ground.

He said nothing.

Stormy eyes slowly lowering to his Gunblade, Leon saw, instead of the proper scarlet of blood clinging to his blade, a thin, inky black liquid he could not identify. Looking back at Cloud, Leon rose his sword and slapped the flat edge sharply against Cloud's slack hands, the hilt of the sword immediately falling from the blonde's fingers and hitting the ground with a loud and resounding _CLANG_.

The brunette twirled his Gunblade between his fingers, before plunging the tip of the blade into the stone ground beside him with a sigh, glancing at Cloud, who just stood there, his bare right arm slowly curling, his hand fisting the material of his left arm, just where Leon had cut him; that thin black liquid smearing on his glove.

Digging in his pockets for some Hi-Potions, Leon kept his eyes fixed on Cloud. The blonde hardly seemed to be in the right state of mind to fight, and Leon was hardly one to ask the other man to talk about his problems, so, Leon just decided healing him physically was all he could do.

Yanking out a handful of Hi-Potions which glowed in his hand, the brunette sighed and took a step toward the blonde.

((TBC. Most people who have seen Final Fantasy Advent Children will know what's going on with Cloud's arm, hopefully. Anyway, I've figured I'll post these chapters once every two days unless I'm feeling generous or something comes up. The next chapter is a continuation of this one, so, don't think I'm just stopping here and fast-fowarding a few days. As always, please, read and review. The gay will finally start to show in a few chapters time.))


	5. Let Me Soothe You

Yanking out a handful of Hi-Potions which glowed in his hand, the brunette sighed and took a step toward the blonde.

Cloud shrank away from him, his hand tightening around the cut on his arm. He was frightened and in shock, and Leon didn't really know how to stop it. The blonde was clearly upset about something, and the brunette didn't really want to ask.

Flipping one of the Hi-Potions open, he held it in front of Cloud's mouth, making sure not to touch the blonde. It was an unspoken rule between the two men that touching was out of bounds. Cloud turned away minutely, his head still bowed and turned away from the brunette, the movement barely visible except for the glint of the sun on his hair changing.

The brunette could practically _hear_ the apology that was coming off the silent blonde in waves. Cloud didn't like to stop a fight when there wasn't a clear winner, and there wasn't one this time, and he never liked to show his weakness. So, today was a double-whammy against the blonde. Leon sighed, the Hi-Potion still held in front of Cloud's mouth.

"It's not your fault," Leon sighed, rolling the other Hi-Potions in his other hand around each other thoughtlessly, the magical glass clinking together.

Cloud froze. That statement. That _voice_.

The blonde lifted his head ever so slightly and looked at Leon through his gold fringe. The brunette could've sworn that Cloud's usually blue eyes flickered into green cat-eyes, but it was gone before he could confirm it. "It was _you_..." the blonde whispered.

Leon frowned. "What was?" he questioned, lowering his Hi-Potion slightly, eying the blonde uncertainly.

"The voice," the blonde mumbled, blue eyes still fixed unwaveringly on Leon. "In my dream."

Alarms flew into action in Leon's mind and the brunette immediately pushed the Hi-Potion into Cloud's mouth, forcing the blonde's head back as well as he could without touching him. Cloud didn't do anything as the Hi-Potion's liquid trickled down his throat, as his cut on his shoulder, bruises, and stab-wound in his leg glowed and healed themselves, but never removed his eyes from Leon.

"You're imagining things," Leon stated flatly, removing the empty Hi-Potion vial from Cloud's unresisting mouth and dropping it on the ground, the magical glass shattering before disappearing from the purple stone ground. "I was a dream."

"You were in my room."

Leon froze.

Cloud never really cared why Leon had been in his room.

He only cared who's voice it was that made the darkness disappear ever since his dream. The questions had flooded his mind and eventually taken him over, leaving him in an autistic mess that just sat there and thought. Now that he'd figured out it was Leon's voice, it made the number of questions in his mind double, but quieten at the same time.

The brunette before him said nothing, avoiding his eyes completely, before yanking Cloud's hand away from his arm by the cuff of his glove and went to touch his sleeved arm.

Just before Leon's gloved fingers touched the inky-wet material clinging to Cloud's arm, his hand was slapped away so hard a jolt of pain shot up the brunette's arm. He looked at Cloud, who shook his head and grasped a hand around the wound again. It was almost as though the blonde had told him what was wrong with his arm telepathically.

_Hi-Potions don't help. Elixers either. Don't touch it._

Leon looked away again, throwing back a Hi-Potion, before dropping the empty glass vial, the vial disappearing like the other one, his wounds glowing and healing. Placing the spare Potions back into his pockets, Leon turned away to grab his Gunblade.

"_Why_ were you in my room?"

Bright blue eyes burnt into the back of Leon's neck like white-hot ashes as he stood there, hand hovering over the hilt of his Gunblade, back stiff. Leon stared at his Gunblade, barely seeing it. Why was he hiding the fact he had helped Cloud through a nightmare? Why was he shy? Why was he_ ashamed of it?_

"You were having a bad dream, Strife." _Why did that have to sound so corny?_ "I didn't want you to start screaming and wake everyone up, is all."

Leon heard the sound of quiet footsteps, and ignored it as Cloud appeared in his peripheral vision, circling him until he stood in front of him, the only thing between them: Leon's Gunblade. Stormy eyes glared a smouldering hole between his fingers and into the hilt of his sword, ignoring the blonde man's existence completely.

"Is that so?"

"_Yes_," Leon hissed through his teeth. Why was the blonde man so calm? Why was he _so irritating_? _Why was he getting under Leon's skin?_

Cloud stepped forward, slowly moving his arms so they hung by his sides, walking forward, eyes fixed purely on Leon's own, which refused to look at him. He finally came to stop beside Leon's Gunblade, so close to the other man, his breath floated across the brunette's cheek.

The inky-black 'blood' trickled down Cloud's wounded arm, gathering on the tips of his gloved fingers and dripping to the ground in tiny black, sickly dots. Leon focused his attention purely on the sound of those black drops hitting the ground.

He ignored Cloud. He ignored the musky, ever so slightly salty smell of the other man. The heat radiating off his body, that he could feel, even through his thick clothing. The sound of Cloud's breaths –one breath every nine seconds–, which floated across his cheek. Everything. He ignored it _all_.

At least, he tried to.

The blonde man smirked slightly, the obvious uneasiness of the brunette amusing him. Cloud decided to try his luck, wondering exactly where the brunette would draw the line.

Leaning closer, but never truly touching, Cloud exhaled a hot gust of breath over Leon's ear. Smirking at the lack of reaction, or, at least, lack of a punch in the face, Cloud breathed two simple words into Leon's ear.

"_Whatever, Leonhart_."

With that, Cloud grabbed his sword and disappeared into the Crystal Fissure. Sure, he was confused as to why it was _Leon's_ voice that protected him from the darkness, and he had millions of questions that basically all said that same thing; 'why him?', but, he knew the answer to that.

So, Cloud just left to find the answers on his own, curling his fist around the weeping cut on his arm once again.

Back in the The Great Maw, Leon was just staring fixedly in front of him, hand still hovering over his Gunblade. His skin _burnt_ where Cloud had breathed over his cheek and ear, his whole body ached with something he didn't understand, and his mind was just a jumble of foul words and emotions.

Suddenly yanking his Gunblade from the stone ground, Leon threw it with all his might at one of the high walls of rock, the blade slamming into it and causing a gaping, jagged crack all the way up the purple-blue rock.

Leon snarled and groaned, running a hand through his hair and yanking at it for good measure.

What the _hell_ was wrong with him? Why was he _acting this way?_

((TBC. Oh, the horror. The gay is finally starting to melt through. Poor Leon. He's been infected with _The Gay_. He'll probably be lying in a gutter this time next month, naked, with six pints of VD in his system. Ooh, there was a song about that, wasn't there? Anyway, read and enjoy. Not my best chapter, I admit. If it's any conciliation, the next chapter is called 'Let Me Dream Of You' and I just might have to bump up the rating.))


	6. Let Me Dream Of You

It was just about five in the morning when Leon wandered back to Merlin's, his Gunblade in hand, his hair messy and his legs aching. He walked down the halls, wrenched open his bedroom door, walked in, before closing his door again with a sharp kick.

He hated Cloud. He _really_ did.

Throwing his Gunblade to the floor, uncaring, and yanking off his clothes to change into a pair of shorts, Leon glared at his surroundings before throwing himself onto his bed and glaring at the ceiling silently.

Whatever Cloud did to him after their match earlier that day, it wouldn't go away.

He could feel it. He could feel the skin on the side of his face burning; where the blonde had breathed against him. He could feel tingles all over his body from the heat that radiated off the other. He could still _smell him_.

Raising his hands and gripping his hair, Leon let out a frustrated groan. Drugs? Did Cloud drug him to feel like this? Did he manipulate him?

Make it go _away_.

Pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes, Leon vowed silently that he's kill Cloud. In a violent, and very un-sportsman-like fashion. Smashing the blonde's head with a rock while he slept sounded poetic, and it cheered the brunette up immensely.

Eventually, after contemplating seventeen equally violent killing methods, and a seriously bloody and overly-gory one that would no doubt mentally scar all of the people living in Hollow Bastion, Leon's eyelids drooped, and he fell asleep with a tiny smirk on his face.

Leon felt soft kisses being pressed against his ear, hands slowly trailing down his chest, heat of another body against his own. He turned his head and captured those smooth lips, cupping the back of their head, short silky hair tickling at his fingers.

The other pressed against him. It was a man.

For some reason, that fact didn't merit any real interest to Leon. The unknown man straddled him, pressing as close as he could, hands threading through Leon's hair and down his neck. The kiss was heated, but soft. No biting to speak of. Just lips and tongue, hot and wet, but not painful. The occasional nip was not ruled out, though.

Raising his other hand, which had wandered to the unknown man's hip, Leon let it trail up the man's chest. His partner was athletic, muscled, but not too much; he was slender. Leon grasped the zip of the man's shirt and pulled it down, his knuckles brushing against the other's heated chest as the teeth of the zip bit at his fingers.

Leon pulled the sleeveless shirt from the other's muscled shoulders, the man untangling his fingers from Leon's hair so he could throw the shirt to the floor, never stopping the kiss. After he did so, he pressed close to Leon, their chests against each other; burning, _searing_ into Leon's flesh.

He moaned quietly into the kiss, his hands running up the other's powerful arms to cup the base of his neck, the other man finally pulling away from the kiss, leaving Leon gasping, before the other quickly leant down and licked at his neck, his fingers raking down Leon's bare chest, leaving soft pink lines in the tanned skin.

Heartbeat speeding and chest heaving, Leon pulled at his bed-mate's hair lightly as his partner nipped down a tendon to his clavicles. Leon felt teeth sink into his skin and he let out a breathy moan, flicking his head to the side, his brown hair fanning out on the pillow.

Tightening his grip on his partner's hair, he yanked them up to eye-level, giving him a stern, _challenging_ glare.

"Don't think you're the boss in all this," he warned quietly, his partner only giving him a small, smug smirk before capturing his lips again, raking his fingers through Leon's wavy brown hair and cupping his face.

Leon rolled them over so he was on top, pinning his partner against the bed under them, the kiss deepening, nips and bites melting into it, Leon sinking his teeth into his partner's bottom lip, drawing blood, the other man moaning quietly.

He released the lip, the metallic taste of blood all through his mouth as he kissed and nipped his way down his partner's neck, leaving little red smears, his partner panting and raking his fingers through Leon's hair, tugging occasionally.

Licking and nipping down a toned chest, Leon bit at a nipple, causing his partner to pant his name. Leon licking and sucking at the hardening nub of flesh before moving to the other and giving it the same treatment, ignoring the insistent hardness pressed against his stomach.

The hand tightening in Leon's hair, he was tugged up before he crushed his lips against his partner's, swallowing the breathy moan of his name.

"Leonhart."

Leon pulled back, ignoring the flash of blue eyes and leaning down, sucking at his partner's neck again, blonde spikes of hair tickling at his nose.

"_Leonhart._"

Leon awoke with a start and just stared at the ceiling, his mouth dry, his eyes wide, his heart hammering against his ribcage like someone was slamming their fists into it, and a part of his anatomy he really didn't want to react from his dream, doing so anyway.

It was a dream. It was a _dream_. It _was a dream_.

Swallowing thickly, he could only just hear the sounds of life behind his bedroom door over the blood rushing in his ears. It was just after midday.

The other people of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee had decided never to wake Leon if he had failed to awake on his own. They knew he worked hard, and thought he deserved to sleep-in once in a while. Leon used to loathe the fact that they didn't wake him up, but, today, Leon just thanked all the Gods he could think of that they did.

Only three syllables were dominant in Leon's mind. They just ricocheted around his brain like three loose bouncy-balls in a box, flying in every direction while Leon's breathing, limbs and other mental functions were left in the dust.

They were three simple syllables:

HO--

--LY--

--_SHIT._

Turning the tap for the cold water slowly, Cloud stood in front of the bathroom basin, a towel hanging around his neck.

It was the day after Leon and his little 'match', and Cloud was still ashamed of his performance. It was his fault that the match stopped halfway through, and it was his fault Leon wasted some of his items. The blonde man sighed, shifting his weight onto his other leg, wearing nothing but his cargo-pants, his torso and arms still damp from his late shower.

Slowly dipping his left arm into the basin of cool water, Cloud sighed, cupping water in his other hand and letting it drizzle over his wounded skin.

The Geostigma that covered around fourty-percent of his left arm just stayed there, a sickly green-black scar-tissue that weeped thin, black discharge from the cut Leon had inadvertently caused yesterday. Cloud watched as the black secretion lazily slithered from the cut, into the water around it, before pooling upon the bottom of the basin.

There was no cure.

A sharp knock startled Cloud and he yanked his arm out of the water, pulling the towel from around his neck before wrapping it around the wounded appendage, hiding it from prying eyes.

"Cloud?"

Blue eyes stared at the disgusting black-tinged water in the basin, and he quickly pulled the plug, the basin gurgling throatily before becoming empty. "Yes?" Cloud said after a moment, his hand curling around his hidden arm.

"Are you decent?" It was Aerith. Moving over to the door, Cloud made sure the towel would stay, wrapped around his arm, before he lifted his hand and opened the door, raising his eyebrows curiously at the lady standing before him.

She gave him a quick smile. "Leon is sleeping, did you tire him out yesterday?" Aerith asked warmly, motioning to the closed door of Leon's bedroom, down the hall.

Frowning a little, Cloud shook his head. "No," he murmured, leaning his shoulder on the doorway and looking at the door at the end of the hall, before back at Aerith. "Our match was hardly anything to be tired over."

The pretty brunette let out a quiet hum, tapping her chin thoughtfully, before giving Cloud a small smile in thanks for his help, turning and walking down the hall, coming to a stop in front of Leon's door.

"Leon?" she called, knocking on the door gently. It was just about four in the afternoon. Leon shouldn't still be asleep. Even if he _was_ tired.

There was no reply.

"Are you there?" Aerith called, a little louder. Cloud came to stand a little behind her, head tilted slightly to the side, hand grasped around his wrapped arm. Leon wasn't one to keep others waiting.

Aerith grasped the doorknob and turned it. "Leon?"

The room had no occupants. The bed was perfectly made, drawers were closed, and, save for a scrap of paper placed in the centre of the bed, it barely looked like anyone had lived there for a while.

Hurrying over to the paper, Aerith picked it up while Cloud read the words from over her shoulder, standing in the doorway.

_I'm going to be gone for a while._

_Don't worry, I'll be fine. I just need time to think._

_Tell Yuffie to stay away from the generator until I get back._

– _Leon._

Areith stared at the paper, frowning a little, wondering where Leon had went, and why. Sure, Hollow Bastion was nearly completely restored, but, there was still a lot to do. Why had Leon left?

Meanwhile, Cloud's sharp blue eyes stared around the room, his lips pursed slightly, hand tightening around his arm, before his eyes came to a full stop on the half-open window.

_Where are you?_

((TBC. There. A nice semi-long chapter for you. I really don't think I'll need to pump up the rating just yet, do you? I will later, though. I'm starting the twelfth chapter now, so, I've only got another nine left, including it. First try at writing any gay groping in a while, so, be nice. As always, please, read and review!))


	7. Let Me Deny You

It was two weeks since Leon had 'The Dream';

The dream that haunted him, made him think things he never truly wanted, and made him second-guess everything he did before now.

He'd been passing through world after world; killing Heartless and Nobodies alike, trying to keep his body occupied so that his mind was, also. Finally, he found himself sitting on one of the ports at Port Royal in the dead of night, his legs dangling over the edge, his boots brushing the inky water beneath him as he just slouched there, staring across the horizon.

"_Oi!_" came a bark behind Leon, snapping the brunette out of his mental flurry of emotions, words and cusses. "What you don', eh?!"

Leon looked over his shoulder blankly, and Jack sparrow stopped dead, before a crooked grin appeared on his dirty face. "You still 'ere?"

"Obviously," the brunette stated flatly, looking back at the horizon. He'd met the pirate numerous times since he landed in Port Royal a few days ago. He hated the pirate, and wondered vaguely if personal hygiene had ever been introduced to the other man.

Jack swaggered over, golden teeth glinting, before he sat –no, _fell_– into the space beside Leon, on the port. "Ye never told me what you've been mopin' about," Jack told him, waving a grubby finger and swaying, leaning on the Gunblade wielder and seemingly oblivious to the look of pure loathing he received.

"Why do you think I'm moping?" Leon growled. He could practically _see_ the dirt and grime hopping off Jack's hand and onto his nice, clean shoulder.

Two dirty bottles of amber liquid appeared before Leon's nose. "Ye face just screams '_I need rum_'."

Reluctantly, Leon took one of the bottles, and Jack nodded authoritatively, somehow staggering to his feet without falling off the port, or even onto Leon. Though, it was a damn close call. "Now, I can't interest you in any salty wenches, can I?" the pirate grinned.

It was tempting to cut the pirate off at the knee, but Leon just shook his head, rubbing his fingers over the dirty bottle of rum in his lap. Jack shrugged haughtily. "Suit yerself!" he stated, flicking his nose into the air and swaggering back down the port like he had a dislocated hip, humming something that sounded a lot like '_pirate's life for me!_'.

Leon just sat there for a few more hours, the rum-bottle sitting by his side, unopened and full. Stormy eyes just stared across the horizon while Leon just thought about a certain blonde man.

The brunette had been in love before. He knew what it was like. _This_ wasn't love.

Ever since his dream of the blonde man, he'd been thinking about him. Not just thinking, but wanting, _needing_. The moment he'd woken up, Leon had just wanted to walk strait into the blonde man's room and ravish him.

It was _lust_. Not love.

He wasn't even gay. Leon was strait. He'd never thought of another man other than a sack of meat with vocal chords that might be good at fighting. He'd always been interested in women. _Only_ women.

But, Leon wanted to touch the blonde man. Feel him. Taste him. And, Leon had no say in the matter.

That fact scared him.

Leon was _always_ in control. Always cool, calm, and knowing of what could happen, and being ready for it. Now, whenever he thought about Cloud, he was overwhelmed with urges to do things to the blonde that were not recommended in private, let alone public, and he didn't know if he could keep the urges at bay.

Running a hand through his hair and sighing gently, the brunette just stared at his knees. He didn't want to go back to Hollow Bastion until he knew he could keep the urges under control and act normal. He just wanted to be _normal_.

"So, here you are."

It was like someone had slammed Leon in the chest with a giant cement hammer. His eyes widened, all air fled from his lungs, and he suddenly felt very nauseous. He squeezed his eyes closed and hunched his back, fisting both hands in his hair.

_Go away, Strife._

The blonde man stood at the other end of the port, hands in his pockets, eyes on the hunched figure sitting on the other end. Cloud was more than a little curious as to why Leon had left, but, being the stoic man he was, he wasn't just going to come out and say it. It'd taken him a whole week to find Leon. The brunette was amazing at covering his tracks.

"The girls are worried about you," Cloud stated to Leon's back, eyeing him as the brunette stiffened. The blonde man tapped the sole of his boot against the old wood of the port a few times, the soft '_clunk_'s emphasising his stubborn nature. He wasn't leaving any time soon, and Leon knew that.

Oh, how Leon _knew that_.

Squeezing his eyes a little tighter before opening then again, the brunette stared hopelessly at his knees. _Don't talk._ Leon thought desperately to Cloud. _Please don't talk._ Leon hated Cloud's voice. He hated, hated, _hated_ it. It was so soft, so low, almost breathless and--

Leon squeezed his eyes closed again and gripped his hair so tightly it was painful. _Make it stop._

Cloud watched the brunette silently, head tilted slightly to the side, a small frown on his face. The brunette was unnaturally quiet, and he seemed to be in some sort of mental distress –Cloud was quite the expert on mental distress–. Taking a step forward, the blonde opened his mouth to ask him if he was okay.

Leon was suddenly on his feet, the rum bottle falling off the side of the port and into the sea with a quiet splash. Cloud barely even blinked, and the brunette had already shoved past him and was hurrying down one of the streets, one hand still fisted in his hair.

Eyes narrowing slowly at the brunette's retreating back, Cloud felt anger bubble up inside of him, his hands curling into fists in his pockets. He went to _all_ those worlds, looking for Leon, purely out of what was _left_ of the goodness of his heart, _and_ because Aerith and the others had begged him to, but, when he finally _did_ find the stuck-up little shit of a Gunblade-weilder, he just _ran off_!

Gritting his teeth, Cloud ran after Leon.

The blonde man caught up with the Gunblade wielder just before he was about to step into his gummi-ship, Cloud grabbing a fistful of Leon's sleeve and yanking him backwards with all his might. Leon's body was wrenched around, and he stumbled a little before regaining his feet, his back to the gummi-ship. In front of him; the last and only person he wanted to be around.

"_What_," snarled Cloud, not out of breath while Leon was, his eyes flashing in barely-controlled anger, "the _hell_ is wrong with you?"

A mocking, crooked smirk appeared on Leon's face before he could stop it. "I'd like to know that too." he stated flatly.

A confused frown melted onto Cloud's face and Leon bit his tongue to stop himself moving to touch the blonde. Touch him. Taste him. _Feel_ him. He felt his hand start to rise and he immediately turned to get back into the gummi-ship.

The moment Leon turned away from Cloud, the blonde shot out a hand and grabbed the brunette's arm. No touching be damned. Before he could even open his mouth, his head snapped away and he stumbled back half a step, his hand falling from Leon's arm.

Cloud's pupils contracted into pinpricks, his face directed away from Leon, before he slowly rose a hand and touched his cheek with the backs of his fingers, his eyes slowly floating back to the brunette, who's fist was still raised.

The Gunblade wielder felt his heart hammering in his chest like it had been when he'd woken up from the dream. He let his hand drop, but his eyes never moved from Cloud's.

He had just punched _Cloud_.

The blonde man's face was blank. No emotion, no feeling, no _nothing_.

Leon felt his body rock minutely forward. Toward Cloud. His hand began to raise again and he shattered the eye-contact he had with the blonde, wrenching himself around and hurrying into the gummi-ship, slamming the door behind him before letting the ship fly up into the sky and _away_ from there.

On the ground, blue eyes just watched fixedly until the gummi-ship was nothing more than a dot in the dark sky. Cloud pressed the backs of his fingers a little harder against his throbbing cheek and a frown melted onto his face again.

Leon's fingers curled around the burning skin of his arm, where Cloud had touched him. Pressing his forehead angrily against the back of one of the chairs, Leon swore throatily into the confines of the ship.

He couldn't control it.

((TBC. It made me giggle with delight when I wrote Cloud's reaction to being punched. Anyway, yes. Leon is strait. Cloud is just... well, too sexy for his own good. I added Jack in there because I like him. I'm working on chapter fourteen right now, so, every new chapter will be posted once every two days. That's not too long to wait, is it? As always, read, enjoy, and please review!))


	8. Let Me Argue

It was a week and a half since Leon had punched Cloud. A week and a half, and Leon had been steering away from all social contact. He just wanted to get everything in his head and body sorted out without any distractions and without that damn blonde appearing and immediately messing up all his efforts.

After that week and a half, Leon felt he'd actually sorted everything out. 'Stopped it in it's tracks', as it were. After much debating and internal struggle, he finally set his gummi-ship down on Hollow Bastion and stepped out.

His heart was hammering in his chest like he was about to _die_. He was either going to meet Cloud, and all his work will either shatter and he'll make a homosexual ass out of himself, or it won't, and Cloud will just leave him alone because Leon is back to his normal self, _or_, he won't meet Cloud at all, and life will be good for a few more hours.

Sighing heavily, Leon grabbed his bag of possessions from the gummi-ship and slung it over his shoulder, walking slowly through the streets toward Merlin's house, his eyes snapping this way and that, looking for any sign of a messy head of golden hair.

He turned a corner and immediately ducked back again, his heart practically leaping out his chest.

"C'mon, Cloudie!" Yuffie chimed, hand in hand with Cloud, dragging him through the doorway of Merlin's house and toward the marketplace. Cloud let out a quiet, irritated sigh and allowed himself to be dragged along.

Pressing the back of his head against the stone wall behind him, Leon sighed, listening to Yuffie blabber on about something or other, a quiet, low mumble from the blonde following her excited squeal, before their voices became weak and indistinct as they went up the stairs to the marketplace, _away_ from Leon. Thank God.

Sighing again, Leon glanced over his shoulder before walking into Merlin's house, to find Aerith sitting on one of the couches, nursing a cup of tea. As soon as he entered, she looked up, and a bright, warm smile spread across her face.

"Leon," she smiled sunnily, placing her tea on the table before her before her and walking over to him. "We missed you."

Nodding understandingly, Leon gave Aerith a small smile. "Yeah, Sorry about disappearing like that," he mumbled, shrugging, his bag still slung over his shoulder.

Aerith gave his hand a quick squeeze and gave him a once-over. "Well, at least you've taken good care of yourself," she nodded, taking in his clean clothes and appearance, moving forward and giving him a hug.

Patting her shoulder gently, Leon gave her another quick smile when she stepped back, letting him pass her and walk to his room. "Would you like something to drink?" Aerith called at his back, standing by the arch of the kitchen. Leon shook his head and told her 'no', just entering his room, closing the door behind him.

Dropping his bag of possessions on his bed, Leon slowly began to unpack. Okay, Cloud was off shopping with Yuffie, and she won't release him until she's done bugging him, so, Leon had half an hour; hour, tops, of time he won't have to worry about bumping into the blonde.

Leon put everything away, running a hand through his hair and letting his Gunblade hang from his hip. He might as well look around to see how the restoration went without him.

Turning, he exited Merlin's house with a wave to Aerith, who smiled warmly, and he walked for the restoration-site.

As he roamed around, he found that quite a lot had been done, even if he hadn't been there. Smiling, he felt proud of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. He continued roaming around the restoration-site, admiring his people's work until he'd forgotten how long he'd spent there.

Finally feeling the tell-tale signs of hunger, Leon turned and started walking back to Merlin's house, feeling content, the sun high in the sky. He didn't even know why he'd ever left! Hollow Bastion was such a beautiful place.

Turning the corner to Merlin's house, stepping down the stairs connecting the bailey to the borough, Leon froze.

Cloud sat on the steps of Merlin's house, knees brought up, arms crossed on top of them, his chin placed on his crossed arms, eyes staring blankly in front of him as Yuffie sat beside him and tied a little pink bow into one of his spikes.

Ducking behind the wall that stopped people falling off the stairs, Leon watched silently from around the corner, heartbeat speeding exponentially. God, Cloud was _beautiful_.

Tying another ribbon in Cloud's hair, Yuffie giggled delightedly, waving a hand in front of the man's face and getting no reaction whatsoever. The brown-haired little ninja dug in her bag of tricks and got out some pink hair-clips. Looking up again, Yuffie saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

Tilting her head to the side and staring in the direction of the stairs to the bailey, Yuffie saw nothing, shrugged, and started clipping Cloud's pretty golden hair back.

Cloud; however unresponsive he was to _her_, had moved.

His bright blue eyes were fixed unwaveringly up, in the direction of the metal grates at the top of the stairs that connected the borough to the bailey.

Walking quickly through the restoration-site, Leon ran a hand through his hair and gulped. _Okay_, he had enough self-control to keep away from Cloud, not to talk to him, and to keep his homoerotic fantasies to himself. Good.

Leon turned a corner and heard a high-pitched, airy whistle, immediately halting in his steps, a slab of metal slamming into the wall, where his head would've been a second later, if he'd kept on walking.

He saw his slightly shocked reflection in front of him as he recognised the metal slab and snapped his head to the side, in the direction the sword had come. Before he could even blink, he felt a fist slam into his gut, and another one grab hold of the front of his shirt and smash his back against the wall, the Buster sword still impaled in the purplish stone, barely an arms-length away.

"Hello, there," came a breathy whisper in his ear. Leon had never heard something so damn provocative in his whole life.

Cloud's grip in the front of his shirt tightened, pressing Leon's back and shoulders against the wall, his knuckles digging into the brunette's clavicles, letting his other fist drop to his side from punching Leon in the gut.

"You've been avoiding me," the blonde accused.

"No I haven't," Leon replied stiffly, opening his eyes just in time to see Cloud's fist slam into his cheek, his head snapping away, pain shooting through his neck and jaw.

He let out a quiet grunt, slowly moving his head back into the proper position, a few absent pops sounding from his neck.

"This is how it's going to work;" Cloud stated flatly, his voice sharp and dominating, Leon shifting slightly against the wall and leaning his head back, finally opening his eyes, staring at the blonde through his eyelashes as his cheek started to bruise and his neck cracked back into position. "You tell the truth, I stop punching you."

"I _was_ telling the truth," Leon said; a split second later Cloud's fist slamming into his cheek for the second time, snapping Leon's head to the side, a sharp _CRACK_ shooting through the air.

Leon grimaced, not even attempting to move his head back into position. He guessed that at least three of his disks in his spine had been shoved out of line.

He felt a cool glass vial being forced into his mouth and his head being moved backwards despite his grunt of pain, an Elixir trickling down his throat, healing his bruised gut and cheek, the disks in his neck popping back into place.

Spitting the empty vial out of his mouth, letting it shatter on the stony ground and turning his head back to Cloud, Leon glared at the blonde.

"Either you keep lying, I keep punching you, healing you, then punching you _again_," said Cloud, his grip tightening on Leon's shirt, the brunette vaguely noticing that the bows and clips Yuffie had put into his hair were gone, "or, you tell the truth, and I _won't_ punch you."

Letting in a deep breath, Leon vaguely thought he deserved to be beaten up because of all his sick thoughts about Cloud, but, the fact he was _enjoying it_ was disconcerting. Shifting a little again, he tried to ignore the quickly-growing throb in his tight leather pants.

"Do your worst," Leon stated.

Cloud asked him why he left. He said it was because he felt like it. Cloud punched him. Cloud asked him why he had been trying to avoid him. Leon stated he hadn't. Cloud punched him. Cloud asked him why he was acting so weird. He said he wasn't. Cloud punched him. Cloud asked him why he left...

The conversation went around in circles, stopping every five or so minutes for Cloud to force an Elixir down Leon's throat, literally, and go back to his interrogation. Cloud wanted to know, and he knew Leon was lying. He could see it in those stormy eyes of his.

But, the thing that confused Cloud the most, was not _why_ Leon left, or even why he was lying, but it was the fact that Leon wasn't even _trying_ to block the punches. It was like he _wanted_ to be hit.

Finally, the sun was only just touching the horizon, almost sunset; the interrogation had gone around in circles, Leon keeping with his basic answers, and Cloud never pulling a punch, occasionally healing the brunette so he wouldn't pass out and force the blonde to stop his questions.

Finally, Leon thought it was basically useless to keep lying. He decided, reluctantly, to answer _one_ of the questions truthfully. Spitting out another glass vial, Leon sighed.

"Why did you leave?" Cloud demanded, flexing his hand, his knuckles bruised under his leather glove, staring fixedly into Leon's eyes.

Slowly, oh so slowly, Leon's eyes floated away from Cloud and down to the ground. He mumbled something, and Cloud blinked.

"Excuse me?" the blonde prompted,

"I _said_, I had a dream about you..."

Cloud paused, before letting out a quiet snort of amusement. "Well," he smirked. "_That_ certainly merits being a stuck-up little turd for three and a half weeks, doesn't it?"

Leon _refused_ to spell it out for Cloud. He downright _refused_.

The brunette just glared icily at the blonde, who was still smirking. This is it, thought Leon. Cloud was supposedly not a 'dumb blonde', and it was all up to him to prove it.

It took all of four seconds for something to click in Cloud's head –putting Leon's apparent 'dream', the very slight pink flush that-was-definitely-not-bruising on Leon's cheeks, together–, and his eyebrows steadily rose before they disappeared underneath his spiky fringe, his eyes widened a fraction more than they usually did.

"Oh." Stated the articulate Cloud Strife.

"Yes." snarled Leon. "'_Oh_'."

Cloud blinked, face blank. "Oh," he repeated.

((TBC. He knows now! I have this thing for violent pairings at the moment, so, at writing Cloud punching the shit out of Leon, I was grinning all the way through it. Next chapter; Let Me Kiss You. Read, enjoy, and review if you feel like it!))


	9. Let Me Kiss You

Cloud blinked, face blank. "Oh," he repeated.

Oh, how stupid Leon felt. He had just told his emotionally-stunted blonde colleague that he had a homoerotic dream about him. _Wonderful_. Now, Cloud was probably just going to grab his Buster sword from the wall, and just lop off Leon's head for being a pervert.

Finally, after a few silent minutes, Cloud just blinked at Leon and shrugged at the brunette. "I'm flattered."

All of the cusses, variations of his death and other useless things shooting around Leon's brain promptly shattered and he stared at the blonde. "_Excuse_ me?" he croaked.

Raising his eyebrows innocently, Cloud's grip on Leon's shirt was as loose as it had ever been. Leon could've easily shoved the blonde away and made a run for it, but his legs wouldn't work.

"What do you--" Leon choked. "You're not--"

Cloud pointed at his intricately-styled hair, then his smooth, flawless skin, and then his stylish clothing that showed off his physique perfectly.

"You're a _homosexual?_" squeaked Leon, barely able to breathe. "Since _when?_"

"You tell me _your_ life story, I'll tell you mine," Cloud stated emotionlessly, letting his hand drop to his side, his grip flexing in Leon's shirt. Okay. Cloud was gay. All right. _Okay_...

It took a few moments of blank silence for Leon to come to terms with this piece of information, and a split second after that, it clicked; Cloud had just dodged _his_ question.

"Fine," Leon grunted, looking away. "Be difficult."

Cloud smirked. "Good. I will."

Running a hand through his hair with a sigh, Leon thought, his eyes averted from the blonde. He could feel Cloud's warm hand on his chest, and he could smell him. Leon found Cloud's smell almost _intoxicating_. It was almost as beautiful as the blonde himself.

"Do you actually fancy me?"

Snapping his eyes back to Cloud, Leon found the blonde watching him with a curious expression.

"Well," Leon croaked, "I, uh-- Well, um..." Why the _hell_ was he answering?

A crooked grin melted onto Cloud's face, reading Leon's true feelings through his eyes, only _just_ able to do it because the brunette was so flustered.

"I see," Cloud hummed, his grin widening. "Interesting," he continued. "Not many people switch their sexuality purely because they had a dream about me."

Swallowing thickly, Leon tried to mend his tattered dignity. "Don't get me wrong," he hurriedly gasped. "I'm not gay!"

Cloud smirked. "_Really?_"

"Yes." Why the hell don't Heartless appear when he needs them to? Leon felt his heart hammering in his chest, and he bit his tongue painfully hard to distract himself from moving toward the blonde. It'd been ages since he'd been near Cloud. He wanted him, but he didn't _want_ to want him.

Oh, God, he wanted to kiss those lips raw.

The fist in Leon's shirt tightened, and Cloud leant forward, Leon's breathing quickening at the heat he felt radiating off the other man, how his smell intensified and how _close_ he was. He felt Cloud breathe over his ear, and he stared fixedly at the blonde's smooth neck, panting quietly, hands gripping his belts tightly to stop them touching the blonde.

"_Liar,_" purred Cloud.

Leon's heart slammed against his ribcage, Cloud slowly moving back, but only so there was barely an inch between them, the brunette's hands gripping tighter at his belts.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Leon panted.

A smirk appeared on Cloud's face and he chuckled gently. "I didn't do anything," he claimed gently.

"Yes, you did," hissed the brunette. "_Why?_"

The blonde sword-wielder's smirk widened just that little bit more. "Sure, I fancy you more than a little, Leonhart, but I don't manipulate people's dreams."

Leon ignored the first-half of the sentence. "I don't _care_ about the dream," he snarled. "You were flirting with me in The Great Maw. _Why?_"

Blue eyes slowly closed, before they opened again, gleaming like orbs of magical water, Cloud's smirk widening.

"Because it's _fun._"

Leon's hands shot up before he could even stop them. He grabbed fistfuls of spiky, silky golden hair and yanked Cloud forward, crushing their lips together.

It only took a second for Cloud to figure out what was happening, and he didn't even try to struggle. The kiss was open-mouthed and dirty. Teeth, tongue and lips. Leon pressed closer to Cloud and the blonde grabbed a handful of his hair as Leon trailed one of his hands down the blonde's chest, biting at Cloud's lips.

Turning them around, Leon slammed Cloud's back against the wall and the blonde just let out a quiet grunt before pushing his tongue further into Leon's mouth, his arm wrapping around the brunette's neck as Leon pressed their bodies together, their erections rubbing through the fabric of their pants. Leon's grip of Cloud's hair tightened, moaning into Cloud's mouth as the blonde let out a quiet, throaty groan.

Leon never knew someone could taste this good. Cloud tasted, smelt, _felt_--

There were no words to describe it.

The brunette's hand dropped between them and cupped Cloud through his pants, the blonde immediately pulling away from the kiss, throwing his head back against the wall, swallowing back a loud moan, biting his plump, bruised, bottom lip, exposing his smooth neck to Leon.

Sinking his teeth into Cloud's throat, Leon could feel the blonde's pulse quicken through his lips; the speed was quite close to what it was like when Cloud had his nightmare, but, thankfully, it was not because Cloud was terrified. Kissing, biting and licking up the blonde's smooth neck, Leon latched onto Cloud's ear and sucked on it, meanwhile adding slow, tantalising pressure on the blonde's erection, rubbing _slowly_.

Letting his mouth fall open with a pant before closing it with a quiet click, biting at his lip again, Cloud rocked against Leon's hand, trying desperately to heighten the friction. "I hate you," he groaned quietly, feeling Leon's erection pressed against his hip.

Smirking, Leon bit and licked along Cloud's jaw. "I _really_ hate you," Cloud panted throatily before Leon captured his lips again in another deep kiss, pressing the blonde harder against the wall as Cloud bit at his tongue.

A sharp jolt shot through Cloud's body and Leon pulled back, blinking at the blonde, who looked in mild pain. After a second, the pain melted off, and Cloud just stood there, his eyes staring blankly over Leon's shoulder.

After a moment, Leon found that Cloud was not looking at something _over_ his shoulder, but at something _on_ it. Turning his head minutely, he saw Cloud's left arm hooked over his shoulder, and, he could feel it shaking slightly.

Leon looked at Cloud, who looked back at him, his perfect white teeth slowly worrying his slightly-swollen bottom lip. Not needing to lean down, since the two men were of equal height, Leon just moved forward that little bit, letting his lips hover over Cloud's; almost asking, instead of just taking.

Fingers played with the ends of Leon's hair absently, the brunette pressing a few gentle kisses against the edge of Cloud's unresisting, unresponsive mouth. He let his lips hover over Cloud's again, and the blonde just shook his head minutely.

"No," Cloud whispered.

It was almost like someone had suddenly made all the ground disappear. Leon felt like he was falling. Freezing. He opened his mouth to ask. Tell. Say _something_.

"Not yet."

Leon stared at Cloud, who just stood there, his back against a wall, his arm around Leon's neck, his lips swollen. The brunette frowned, he didn't understand. _What_, yet?

Smiling sadly, Cloud ran a hand through Leon's hair slowly, as though able to savour the feeling of the silky strands on his leather glove, cupping the back of Leon's head.

"Not yet," he repeated.

With that, Cloud slowly and gently disentangled himself from the unresisting Leon, removed his sword from being impaled in the stone wall, and walked off down the path toward the bailey, disappearing around the corner.

Leon slumped against the wall, just staring after Cloud, his face blank, his body barely able to keep himself upright. Finally, he collapsed against the ground, his legs lying flat on the ground in front of him, his hands coming up to grip his hair.

_WHAT_ YET?

((TBC. I do believe I foresee reviews with capslock, vulgar words and lots of exclamation marks on account of Cloud's cutting short the groping... But, anyway, be glad I _actually wrote them kissing_. In the draft, they _didn't_. Cloud was a real pussy in the draft, and I decided to give him some balls by making him a real ass. WOW. Three lower-extremity parts of the anatomy in the same sentence! I'm on a friggin' ROLL. Read, enjoy, and review!))


	10. Let Me Save You

Sitting in the kitchen of Merlin's house Leon nursed his cup of coffee and stared blankly at the empty chair in front of him, thinking.

I'd been three days since he'd come back. Three days since he and Cloud had had their impromptu groping-session.

Three days since he'd seen the blonde.

Cloud had disappeared after their little game of tonsil-hockey, and hadn't been seen by anyone since. Leon glanced out the window to see the stars twinkling in the sky. It was night. Around ten or eleven.

During those three days, and after his very horny make-out session with the blonde, Leon's feelings had simmered down, much to the delight of the brunette. From pure, lust-filled, horny, hormone-infested desire; just to wanting kisses, touches, wanting to make the blonde happy.

Placing his chin in his hand, Leon sighed, a lock of hair falling into his eyes.

He was in love.

Staring blankly out the window, he just sat there. He wasn't even gay. Not even bisexual. Cloud was just an exception, apparently.

The world 'Cloudsexual' passed through his head and he chuckled.

Lust turned into Love.

Who would've thought?

Leon had thought about the reason the feelings had started. He'd known the blonde for a long time, and, at first, had thought it was just a passing desire. But, as he reflected back to all his memories of Cloud, he found one pattern.

They never stood really close, face-to-face.

Sure, they were always back-to-back when they fought together; so close the blonde would occasionally comment that Leon should cut his hair because it kept on brushing against the back of his neck, but-- never face-to-face.

Until their fight in The Great Maw.

They'd stood so close that they could feel each other's heat, energy. Burning like two suns that are much too close. Making them sweat. Drawing each other in. Leon supposed that was what triggered his feelings toward the blonde. He'd always thought Cloud was an ass, but a good fighter. That respect seemed to have grown into love.

The brunette wrinkled his nose slightly. He didn't idolise Cloud. He still thought the blonde was a bastard and deserved a kick up the ass, but...

Leon looked down at his cold, half-empty coffee. Cloud was beautiful. And broken. Someone should love the blonde, and try and heal him.

He sighed. If Cloud would_ accept it_, of course.

Cloud hadn't outright rejected him, but, Leon still didn't understand. The blonde liked him; Cloud had said that easily, but, it was almost like he had unfinished business and needed to finish it before--

"_Help!_"

Leon's thoughts imploded at the muffled cry, accompanied by a bang on Merlin's front door. Everyone was asleep. Hurrying to his feet, the brunette quickly moved over to the door and wrenched it open.

Oh God.

Sora blinked into the light of the house that streamed around Leon's edges and through the doorway, red smears across the Keyblader's cheeks and staining his clothing, clutching something limp, black, and soaked in red.

_Cloud_.

Dropping to his knees, Leon helped Sora lay Cloud onto the ground. The blonde was covered in cuts, most of them deep and bleeding profusely, a single one going strait through his abdomen, and out the other side.

"Get Aerith," Leon whispered. Oh God, oh God, oh _God_...

The little Keyblade-master nodded and scampered into the house, still covered in Cloud's blood, banging at the bedroom doors, crying for help tears in his eyes, his whole body shaking.

Meanwhile, Leon just knelt by Cloud's prone figure, fingers placed securely on the blonde's cold neck, only just able to feel a single weak beat before he had to wait for another. "Don't you die on me, asshole," he whispered, his throat tight, his hair swaying around his ears in the cold night air.

Considering the fact that the person he only just figured out he loved was dying in front of his very eyes, Leon thought he was holding it together rather well.

There was the sound of hurrying feet and Leon didn't even look up, Aerith collapsing by Cloud's side, dressed in her pink dressing-gown, looking panicked. "Oh, no..." she murmured, hands ghosting over Cloud's pale, bloody face.

"Can you heal him?" Sora gasped, kneeling down beside the pretty brunette, biting his lip, the smudges of blood across his face and body seeming to go unnoticed. Poor kid. He was only sixteen, and he had to drag a near-dead corpse here.

Aerith nodded. "I'll try," she stated, blinking back tears, before raising her hands above Cloud's heart.

The healing was hard on Aerith, but, after she had finished, panting, a whole fifteen minutes later, glittering magical leafs and petals fluttering to the ground and disappearing, Leon felt another single beat of Cloud's heart, and it felt just that little bit stronger.

Swallowing, Aerith placed her hand on Cloud's bloody, but healed cheek. "We should move him," she murmured, "get him out of the cold.."

Carefully shifting around and slipping his arms under Cloud's limp, cold body, Leon slowly lifted the blonde up, Sora watching, terrified, beside Aerith, who watched intently.

"Inside."

After Aerith had got Leon to move Cloud to the blonde's room, she cleaned the blood off his now-woundless body and changed him into some clean clothes, she ushered the two brown-haired males back into the room, gently stroking the blonde's fringe idly.

"Is he all right now?" Sora mumbled, wringing his hands. The young boy had come to know everyone from Hollow Bastion like family, so, finding someone like he had found Cloud, upset him. Leon rose a hand and patted the short brunette on the head absently.

Giving the young boy a small sad smile, Aerith sighed. "He's alive, but he lost a lot of blood. My healing can do many things, but, I can't regenerate blood."

Something clicked in Leon's head. "What type is he?"

Aerith blinked.

"Blood type," Leon explained, letting his hand drop from Sora's messy head of spikes, taking a step forward.

"AB, I think," Aerith murmured, watching Leon who immediately started rolling up his sleeve, Sora staring at the older man with wide, blue eyes.

"I'm AB."

Leon held out his arm.

((TBC. This is basically an explaining-filler-chapter-thing. Sorry about that. Cloud _is_ actually AB, but, wikipedia didn't say that type Leon was, so, I used that to my advantage. Don't worry. The next chapter is better. I was in a slump when I wrote this. Read and review, if you like.))


	11. Let Us Forget

The night went slowly, Leon sitting silently on a chair beside Cloud's bed, a book on his lap, his arm placed against the bed beside it, a long thin tube connecting his inner-elbow to Cloud's, bright red blood flowing through it in a steady line, the colour slowly trickling back into the blonde's cheeks.

Eyes floating from his open book, Leon looked at Cloud's other arm, where a large, black-green scab covered quite a lot of the pale skin. '_What is it?_' he had asked Aerith when she was slipping the needle into Cloud's healthy arm.

'_It isn't my business to say,_' was her reply, before thanking him for doing this, and slipping the needle into his own arm.

Flipping the page of his book, Leon read on.

There was a quiet grunt an unrecorded time later, Leon raising his eyes from his book, which he had nearly finished, to see Cloud staring blearily at the tube in his arm though his eyelashes, a small frown on his face.

"Oh _God_," mumbled Cloud, closing his eyes again and groaning. "I've got your bloody _cretinous_ DNA running through my veins... I'm _contaminated!_" he moaned, rolling his head away from Leon.

"You're welcome," chuckled the brunette.

Cloud waved his free arm noncommittally. "Meh," he replied.

Sighing gently, Leon looked back down at his book. Cloud was all right. He just needed a little more of Leon's blood, and he would be up and about in no time. Turning his page, he ignored it as Cloud shifted on the bed a little.

"How did you come to be so cut up, Strife?" Leon asked after a moment, eyes on his book.

"Isn't it against the alpha-male code to be worried about a competitor?" Cloud asked, a smirk forming on his lips, changing the subject fluidly. Leon glanced up from his book, before looking back down, a smirk of his own melting onto his face. He knew Cloud wouldn't answer. Oh well.

"_Well_," he hummed thoughtfully, "as far as I'm concerned, you're not a competitor."

The blonde rose an eyebrow, grinning. "I'm part of your harem, then?"

The smirk widened. "You said it, I didn't."

Chuckling, Cloud looked up at the ceiling, making no move to get up, move, or try to remove the tube in his arm. He wouldn't deny the fact that being in Leon's bed interested him. Finally, after a long moment of content silence, the blonde looked back at Leon, who was on the last page of his book.

"About before..." he murmured, instantly getting the brunette's attention, Leon looking up, watching him expectantly. "I just can't right now," Cloud finished quickly.

The other blinked. "You actually _want_ to?" Leon asked. He thought Cloud did, but he wanted to know for sure.

The look he got in return was one that easily translated into '_Are you insane? HELL YES._' Trying to bite back the smug smirk tickling at the edges of his mouth, Leon looked back down at his book, reading the last few paragraphs. He felt Cloud's eyes still on him, but he didn't really mind.

Cloud rose his free arm to touch Leon's hair. It looked exceptionally silky right now, but, the moment his arm passed his vision, he stopped. Finishing his book and closing it, Leon looked up, to see Cloud staring fixedly at the black scab on his arm, which was held in front of his face.

He knew it wasn't his place to ask, so, he went back to the conversation they were having before. "What do we do until then?"

Lowering his arm, Cloud quickly slipped it under the sheets, shielding it, _hiding_ it, before looking back at the brunette. "Hm?" he asked.

"If not 'right now'," Leon murmured, running his fingers over the book in his lap, "what do we do until then?"

Frowning a little, it took a moment for Cloud to figure out what Leon was talking about. Averting his eyes to the ceiling, the blonde thought about it for a second. "Forget about it until then?" Leon asked.

He was replied with a quiet scoff. Cloud looked at him, a crooked smirk on his face. "Last time I checked, you didn't have much self control," the blonde snickered, not exactly sounding unhappy of this fact.

"I do believe you're still wearing clothing and as 'innocent' as a person like you can be," Leon returned, raising an eyebrow before gently removing the tube from his arm. Cloud glanced down at himself and let out a quiet, impressed hum.

"Well," he sighed. "So I am. Fuck you."

"I do believe it'd be the other way around," the brunette returned offhandedly with a barely controlled smirk, slipping the tube out of Cloud's arm, before dropping it into the small basin of cold water by the bed, pressing his finger on the tiny bead of blood that had wept from where the tube used to be.

Cloud scoffed quietly, but didn't argue. That just caused Leon's smirk to widen.

"Anyway, what makes you think you've got more self-control than me?" the brunette asked, tilting his head to the side a little.

"Well," chuckled Cloud, looking smug. "I've kept my..." he frowned a little, not using the word, just waving his hand in the air to symbolise using it, "... for you secret for as long as I've met you. I think I can keep from ravishing you for a while longer."

Leon blinked. "For as long as you've known me?" he repeated, smug.

He received a small warning look. "Gloat, and I'll kill you."

Chuckling and finally standing up, his book in hand, Leon dropped Cloud's arm and slipped his free hand into his pocket. "So, we just forget about it?" he sighed as the blonde lifted himself onto his elbows.

Blue eyes bored into his own, before Cloud finally nodded. "Yeah."

Nodding, his eyes falling to the floor, Leon walked around the bed and to the door.

"Just a second!"

The brunette looked up, his hand on the doorknob, eyebrows raised. Cloud slipped himself off the bed, ignoring Leon's hurried objections, and staggered over to him, nearly falling _onto_ him, grabbing hold of Leon's arm to steady himself.

Leon stared at Cloud, who just stood there for a moment, as though he was thinking, before the blonde leant forward and pressed his lips against Leon's.

It was gentle, soft, barely sexual at all. Leon sucked gently on Cloud's lip and the blonde pressed a little closer, running a hand through the brunette's silky hair as Leon slipped an arm around Cloud's waist. After a moment, the two of them moved back and Leon gave Cloud a small smirk. "What was that for?"

The blonde shrugged innocently. "Just so I know what I'm missing," he smiled.

Smiling despite himself, Leon leant forward and pressed a soft kiss against Cloud's lips, before pulling back again. "_Right_," he murmured, his lips brushing against Cloud's teasingly. The blonde pressed a few kisses against the edge of Leon's mouth before smiling sadly.

"Hopefully, it won't be that long," Cloud murmured, stroking the back of his thumb over Leon's jaw.

The brunette shrugged weakly. It wasn't that he wanted to wait, but, if it made Cloud happy, he'd do it.

Urgh. _God_. He was starting to sound like one of those sappy Romeos who'd cross seas and cut out their organs for their beloved. Pressing a last kiss on Cloud's lips, Leon drew back, opening the door and letting it swing completely open.

Turning away, Leon felt one of Cloud's hands against his arm, warming him, soothing him, before it disappeared; the brunette walking through the door and closing it with a _click_ behind him.

Cloud was out of bounds now.

In the passing weeks the two males ignored their feelings for each other like they were never there. They acted like they used to. They argued like they used to, they swore at each other, fought, swapped banter, and without even a glimpse of their feelings for anyone else to see, or each other.

Sometimes it scared Leon what good actors the two of them were.

If you keep acting a certain way, eventually, you'll convince yourself too.

Eventually, he forgot of his feelings: just knowing that he never meant what he said to Cloud, and that the little tickling sensation at the back of his mind whenever Cloud brushed past him, shouted at him, or swung his sword, meant that the blonde was very, very important to him.

Four months passed by, Cloud had come and gone numerous times– sometimes for weeks, sometimes for days. But, every time he got back, within half an hour, Leon would find himself on the receiving-end of a vulgar greeting and/or insult.

At the sound of one of the most creatively _lewd_ remarks Leon had _ever_ heard, he just stared over his shoulder at the blonde, who had reappeared after disappearing for a good whole week.

"Should I ask you how you _know_ that?" the brunette asked with a raised eyebrow, turning around from trying to smash down one of the teetering walls of rock in the restoration-site: the wall had been a danger to everyone around it for two weeks now.

Cloud shrugged innocently, a smug smirk appearing on his face. "Oh, I don't know," he hummed. "Spend a weekend with a talking penguin, and you learn quite a lot of new things."

Shaking his head, Leon turned back to the wall, pulling the trigger of his Gunblade, a bullet slamming into the wall, causing it to teeter for a second, before collapsing into a long line of cracked rocks and dust.

((TBC. I wrote some banter between Cloud and Leon at the start of this, because I felt the need to... Uh... I have absolutely no idea what to say now, except the fact that I'm currently writing the fifth-last chapter, and that I keep getting distracted by watching torchwood season two. Enjoy.))


	12. Let Me Touch You

"Yield?"

It was sunset, the sun painting the sky above Hollow Bastion a beautiful purple and gold, and two people living there couldn't care less.

Leon lay on his back in The Great Maw, Cloud on top of him, the blonde straddling one of his legs, one knee digging into Leon's hip, the other pinning one of the brunette's wrists to the ground by his side. Leon's other hand, clutching his Gunblade, was grasped by one of Cloud's hands, and pulled across his torso, pinned against his ribs, while Cloud's other hand was holding his Buster sword right against Leon's neck.

"_Yield?_" Cloud repeated.

The brunette felt the hand pinned against the ground start to tingle and go numb and he sighed, the hand pinned against his ribs dropping his Gunblade in a sign of defeat, the hilt falling the last few inches to the stone ground and letting out a quiet _clunk_.

Smirking, Cloud rose his sword a little higher and twirled it a little, before plunging it back down, at Leon's neck. The brunette didn't flinch or struggle. A tiny cut appeared on Leon's neck, right next to where Cloud's Buster sword stood, halfway impaled into the stone beside Leon's head.

"_Trusting_ aren't you?" Cloud hummed, a smug smirk on his face as he shifted his weight purely onto the knee digging into Leon's hip, the brunette quickly yanking his hand out from under he blonde's other knee, letting out a quiet grunt at the pain of a good seventy kilos of muscle and ego digging into his hip, before Cloud placed his other knee back onto the ground again and evened out his weight.

"I _know_ you won't kill me," Leon smirked. "Aerith would be quite upset." he stated, yanking his other gloved hand out of Cloud's grasp, removing his Gunblade from digging into his ribs on the ground. "Guilt, and all that."

The blonde waved a hand in the air nonchalantly, still straddling one of the brunette's legs, his sword impaled in the ground beside Leon's neck. "I've been thinking about that. If I told Aerith you died from alcohol-poisoning, she won't be _as_ upset."

Leon let out a snort. "Right. Alcohol-poisoning causes one's insides to explode out of your chest and your head to remove itself."

Cloud waved his hand again. "A mere technicality."

Raising a hand, Leon flicked the back of his finger against the blade of the sword only just pressing against his neck, a metallic '_twang_' ringing through the air. Cloud understood the movement and rose a hand, yanking the sword out of the rock and standing up, stepping away from the brunette and shouldering the gleaming blade.

Leon made a movement to get up, but the moment he shifted his back, pain shot through his body and he quickly and stiffly lay back down, teeth gritted slightly. Slipped disk. Oh, _goodie_.

Downing an Elixir with as little movement possible, Leon felt the disk in his back snap back into place, and his numerous flesh-wounds heal. Standing up and hooking his Gunblade on his hip, Leon glanced at Cloud, who had already healed himself and was slowly massaging at his left arm, his Buster sword in it's sheath on his back.

Turning, the brunette started walking for the Crystal Fissure, hearing the quiet thumps of Cloud's footsteps follow behind him, and the musical tinkle of the blonde's belt-buckles and earring.

The two men entered Merlin's house just as it was starting to get dark, the brunette continuing into the house and to his room, while the blonde walked into the bathroom for a quick shower.

Leon walked back into the living-room a few minutes later, wearing clean clothes, and a book in hand. He walked over to Cid, asking if there was anything he could do, the older man sitting in front of the computer, as always. Cid just waved a hand at him and told him to 'get his leather-clad ass out of his way or he'd find a cattle-prod stuck up it'.

A while later, the living-room was filled with life; casserole and rice placed in bowls on the coffee-table in the centre of the room, everyone sitting in couches around it.

Yuffie and Sora were stuffing their faces, Aerith and Tifa talking animatedly, Merlin was turning his rice into little white animals that trotted around in the air, and Cid was whacking Yuffie over the head with his fork when the ninja tried to eat his food.

Leon sat in one of the recliners, tapping his fork against his lip, reading his book silently, his bowl of food placed on a towel in his lap, gloves in his pockets. He heard a soft creak of floorboards and he glanced up, to see Cloud standing in the archway of the kitchen, watching them all, a small frown on his face.

After a moment, Aerith came over to the blonde swordsman and offered him a place beside her, and he just shook his head, saying something that Leon couldn't quite hear.

Aerith seemed mildly taken aback, but a warm smile came across her face after a moment, and she cupped the back of Cloud's head, letting him lean down, before she placed a kiss on the blonde's forehead. Stroking Cloud's cheek as he opened his eyes and straitened up, the pretty flower girl smiled at him.

"Good luck," she murmured.

Nodding hesitantly, Cloud turned away and walked past Leon and out the front door without a glance back.

Wandering back to her seat, Aerith sank into her cushions and brought her bowl of dinner to her lap again. She hoped Cloud would win this time, instead of being beaten physically and mentally.

Looking up when there was a loud cry from Sora, claiming Yuffie took his bowl, the pretty flower girl noticed that Leon's chair was empty.

Walking up the stairs of the borough, Cloud ignored the tinkle of his belts and trinkets, his hands in his pockets as he turned the corner and walked purposefully toward the grates leading to the bailey. The moon was only just starting to raise. It was a beautiful night.

Raising a hand to push the grates open, Cloud paused, his fingertips against the cold metal. Turning his head minutely, he looked over his shoulder.

Leon stood a few metres behind him, hands in his pockets, stormy eyes fixed on Cloud, a frown on his face.

The blonde looked back in front of him, his fingers slowly curling around the rusted metal metal of the grate. Pursing his lips slightly, Leon understood.

Cloud was going to fight Sephiroth.

He was going to risk his life again to destroy his darkness; risk his life again to fight a near-impossible foe. If he failed, he could die.

Cloud heard Leon's footsteps slowly advancing on him, and he just stared blankly through the metal grate, his fingers of his left arm curling tighter around the sharp, rusted metal, while his right arm hung at his side. What was he going to get, he wondered. A 'good luck'? 'Don't worry, you'll win'? 'Don't you dare die on me'?

Warm, smooth, unhindered fingers curled around Cloud's wrist and the blonde felt _all_ of those statements and _more_ get transmitted through that simple act, Leon's fingers slowly enveloping Cloud's wrist, the blonde's pulse beating slowly against the brunette's thumb.

The two men stood there for a time, neither one moving away, neither one trying to count the minutes, neither one saying a _word_.

Finally, there was a bang of Merlin's door slamming open forcefully beneath them and Cloud swept the grates open with a loud scrape, looking over his shoulder at Leon.

Both men just looked at each other; blue eyes glowing in the dark, stormy, blue-grey eyes darkening. Finally, Cloud looked back in front of him and walked into the tunnel that went to the bailey, Leon's fingers, slack, grazing across the blonde's wrist before falling to his side, the blonde disappearing into the pitch dark tunnel.

"Cloud!" Tifa cried, running up the stairs and past Leon, her hair flying out behind her. "_Cloud!_" She disappeared into the tunnel too, and the grates swung closed.

Grey eyes slowly lowered themselves to the ground, and Leon turned and walked back to Merlin's house, slipping his hand back into his pocket.

((TBC. No idea what to say except enjoy, and I'm running slow on the fifth-last chapter because of groping difficulties and torchwood distractions. Read and Review, please!))


	13. Let Me Miss You

Things went as they usually did in the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. Only one thing was different.

Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie and Cid were gone.

'_Worldly-matters,_' Aerith had explained with a smile when Leon had asked where they had went, the long-haired brunette then turning back to the pancakes she was making with Sora. The Kayblade-master flailed around a spoon covered in flour, making loud, fighting sounds, flour flying in every direction as the young boy jumped around the kitchen with a delighted shriek of '_I'm king of the keyblades!_' and a triumphant laugh.

Usually Leon did all the heavy work with Cid, and possibly Cloud, but, now, the two blondes were gone. Pointing his Gunblade at a wall of solid rock that was in the way, the quiet brunette pulled the trigger. The work was harder, but, he could handle it.

Tapping away at Ansem's computer later on, Leon's fingers flew across the keyboard in a blur he didn't even recognise. His mind was elsewhere.

He wondered if they were okay.

Pausing in his typing and dragging a hand through his hair, the brunette heard a semi-electronic voice.

"_Are you all right, Leon?_" questioned Tron through the speakers, observing the human from a small camera connected to the screen in front of the brunette.

Letting out a sigh and rolling his neck, Leon nodded. "Yeah, just a little tired," he conceded quietly to the computer program. Usually, Leon would have never said that fact to any living human being, but, Tron understood that privacy was important to Users, and kept whatever Leon said to him secret, unless the brown-haired Gunblade-weilder said so.

"_It's been a week since Cid, Yuffie, Cloud and Tifa left, hasn't it?_" Tron picked up on Leon's train of though quickly, and expressed his thoughts on the matter. "_They will come back,_" he continued. "_We need them here. They're important._"

The User looked away.

Tron found this movement interesting.

"_You find one of the listed above more important?_" the security program asked, taking in every subtle movement of Leon's; every muscle-movement, sway, and blink.

After a long moment, Leon just let out a loud, violent sigh and collapsed onto the ground, the back of his head smacking into the concrete floor, his arms lying flat on either side of him, one leg bent, the other not. Ignoring the pulse of pain in the back of his skull, Leon just rose an arm and placed it over his eyes.

"_Are you okay?_" asked Tron after a moment.

"No."

"_Why?_"

Just lying there on the floor, Leon let out another loud sigh, which sounded vaguely like a self-dissatisfied groan to Tron's microphones. The User just lay there on the floor, not moving, not speaking; just thinking.

Finally, after a whole eight minutes had ticked over on Tron's digital clock, Leon decided to speak what was on his mind.

"I miss him."

Tron's camera zoomed in on what could be seen of Leon's face, and could see that the User was chewing at the side of his lip in a destructive manner.

"We agreed. We said we'd forget," the User breathed to himself, his hands curling into fists. "I remembered the moment he left. Why'd he leave?" Leon let in a shaky breath and rose a fist, slamming it against the floor violently, a few tiny cracks appearing there.

"It's not _fair_...!"

"_You love him?_" Tron asked. Feelings and emotions were foreign to him, but he found himself understanding them from a logical point of view. They changed a person's opinion, for better or worse, it made them stronger, or it made them weaker. Leon felt so strongly about someone it made him crumple onto the floor and become weak without them. Tron supposed that whenever Leon was around the person, he was amazingly strong.

They were Leon's lifeline.

The User had almost ceased breathing. His chest only just going up and down every few seconds.

"... Yes."

The simple word hadn't been spoken. It was just said so softly no sound had come out, but Tron had caught the movement of Leon's lips by the camera. "_Have you told him?_"

Quite suddenly, Leon was on his feet and he threw his Gunblade at the closed metal door that separated the computer-room from the corridor to the elevator. There was a loud _CLANG_, and the door buckled, the blade having went completely through the thick metal, the handle sticking out of the door.

Bringing up his hands to clutch at his hair, Leon let out a slew of foul words that Tron knew that Users tried not to use. After the foul curses had finally died down, Leon just stood there, panting, hands clutching his hair, body shaking slightly.

Finally, Leon let his hands drop to his sides and he let his head fall back, staring up at the ceiling with blank, emotionless eyes, his hair in a mess that stuck up in all directions. "... No, I haven't."

"_Will you do so in the future?_"

Dropping his gaze to the floor, Leon bit his lip.

He didn't know the answer to that.

Mumbling an apology and removing his Gunblade from the wrecked door, Leon quickly turned and left, his head bowed, a hand gripping his hair again. Tron watched him leave, and the program frowned a little.

((TBC. Emo-Leon makes me die a little on the inside. My fingers downright refused to write this chapter, so, it's definitely not as good as I wanted it. Or as long. I'm currently writing the fourth-last chapter, so, there probably won't be any outrageous delays in posting. One every two days, as usual. Read and review, please!))


	14. Let Me Congratulate You

It's been a month.

_A_ _whole month_.

Leon's mood deteriorated from just visibly missing Cloud in private, to sitting in the living room of Merlin's house for all to see, with his head in his hands, giving no one an explanation for his mood; just sitting there.

Sora had appeared recently to visit Pooh, but the moment he came back out of the magical book, he stared silently at Leon, who was just sitting there, staring blankly at his knees.

At a sharp dip in the couch, Leon glanced beside him, to find Sora settling himself on one of the cushions, his legs crossed, looking thoughtful. At the feeling of someone watching him, the little Kayblade-master looked at Leon, and promptly beamed at him.

A small smile tugged at Leon's mouth. Sora didn't want him to 'talk' about it. The kid had learnt that Leon didn't 'talk' about anything. Sora was just telling him that he was there, and would always be there to help.

Raising a hand, Leon gave Sora's nose a sharp tweak.

"_N'RF!_" Sora cried, slapping a hand over his nose and staring, watery-eyed at Leon.

Smirking, the older brunette leant back on the couch, feeling just that tiny bit less lonely. Sora poked his tongue out at Leon cheekily, his hand still plastered over his sore nose; a smile spreading across the teen's face regardless.

_He'll come back soon,_ Leon assured himself, refusing to mope over the blonde, choosing, now, to just do jobs around Hollow Bastion, working away his frustration and sorrow.

A week later, the brunette was wandering back from smashing down an old, three-story building, to find Cid, Tifa and Yuffie in the living room of Merlin's house. Tifa was talking very fast to Aerith, motioning her hands around a little, Cid at her side, and Yuffie was blabbering something about 'evil twins' to a wide-eyed Sora, waving her arms around her arms about her head in an overly-enthusiastic manner.

The moment Leon entered, Yuffie's attention shot to him, she let out an ear-peircing squeal of '_SQUALLIE_!' and threw herself at him, slamming into his chest and pulling him into a rib-crushing hug.

Not even attempting to tell her that he didn't go by that name anymore, Leon patted her on the head, giving Tifa and Cid a small nod in greeting, which he got a wave and a nod in kind.

"Where's Strife?" Leon murmured when Yuffie had finally released him.

The ninja blinked up at him. "He's not here yet?" she asked, tilting her head to the side curiously. Leon felt his chest warm. Cloud was alive. He was fine.

Feeling Yuffie yank him toward Sora by the hand, the brunette vaguely heard the ninja babbling on about someone called 'Reno' and 'genova's head'.

"Come!" she cried, shoving Leon into the seat beside Sora, despite the older brunette's grunt of disapproval. "I wanna tell you about what we did! Beat Sephiroth! And, I just got to the good part too! Lotsa fighting! I kicked ass, as expected. But Cloud did good too!"

Placing his chin in his hand, Leon listened.

Four days later, the Gunblade wielder found himself sitting in the kitchen at the early hours of the morning, the sun having yet to rise. Leon just sat there in the semidarkness, his eyes just staring blankly at his hands, holding a full glass of water, just thinking.

'_Cloud's fine!_' Leon had heard Tifa say a day or so prior, to Sora. '_He's just taking a different rout here. He said he wanted to see the sights. With Sephiroth gone, he feels like a free man again, I suppose._'

Running his fingers absently over the smooth glass, Leon listened to the sound of soft pattering of early-morning rain on the roof and umbrellas of Merlin's house.

When Cloud came back, Leon would have to forget his feelings for the blonde once more. Running a hand through his hair, the brunette supposed that was the easy part. Waiting for Cloud, on the other hand...

There was a creak, and Leon looked up, in the direction of the dark living room, where the sound had originated.

Moving to his feet silently, the brunette stroked a finger along the hilt of his Gunblade, which was hanging from his hip, before moving to the archway, leaning his shoulder gently against the smooth wood, his grey-blue eyes roaming around the messy shapes of grey and black.

Finally, his eyes fell upon a recliner in the corner by the window.

A tiny glint of light from somewhere outside flitted through the window and a line of light highlighted bright blue eyes that looked up from behind a messy golden fringe to fix on Leon's own eyes.

A warm smile spread over Leon's face before he could stop it. "Strife," he greeted.

"Hello, Leonhart," replied Cloud smoothly from his recliner, the brunette's eyes adjusting to the darkness, able to see the blonde sitting there comfortably, one ankle crossed over the other. "Is this the part where you tell me I shouldn't come into a house uninvited?" Cloud smirked.

Despite himself, Leon couldn't help but grin. "I think we've already had that conversation," he murmured.

Arching his back into a perfect bow and stretching his arms over his head, Cloud let out a languid groan, his back popping a few times before he let body go slack, slumping once again against the recliner, both arms hooked over the back, his head tilted to the side, relaxed. "Yeah, I think we have," he smiled.

Leon could practically _feel_ the difference in Cloud.

Before, Cloud rarely smiled at all, and yet, here he was, just short of _glowing_, and he was relaxed, just sitting there, completely open, his arms slung over the back of the couch, content and radiant.

Did Sephiroth really take this version of Cloud away?

Leon didn't care. Cloud was back, he was unhurt, and he was happy. That's all that mattered.

Turning away, the brunette walked back into the kitchen, retrieving something, before walking back into the living room, circling the couches, falling into the couch opposite Cloud and sliding a beer over the coffee table between them, the beverage coming to a stop in front of the blonde.

A smug grin melting onto his face, Cloud leant over, picked up the beer and held it up to Leon, who rose his own in return.

It was Leon's own kind of 'congratulations and welcome home', except, the brunette didn't have to say anything.

When the sun began to rise, a pile of at least more than fifteen empty beer-bottles were on the coffee table. Leon was sprawled across the couch, an arm thrown across his eyes, tapping a tune out on his half-full beer which was held to his side, and Cloud was on his recliner, lying with his head on one arm of the couch, his legs thrown over the other, and balancing his nearly-empty beer on one finger before him.

By the time Aerith had woken up and entered the scene, Leon was sitting in the kitchen, his forehead pressed against the kitchen table, his hands gripping his head, letting out a quiet groan or pitiful curse at absolutely any noise whatsoever, and Cloud was fast asleep on his recliner, his face buried in a pillow, blocking out all light, and a beer-bottle balanced on his knee.

Letting out a quiet sigh and making her way to the small lake of empty beer-bottles, Aerith went to work cleaning up, ignoring the occasional moan of agony which came from the kitchen.

((TBC. I loathe the start of this chapter and Emo-Leon still makes me die a little, but, yes. Final Fantasy Advent Children happened between when Cloud left, and came back. I tried not to mess that up. Loved that movie. I like the thought of Cloud and Leon drinking to excess. I don't know why, I just do. Anyway, read, enjoy and review, as usual! WTF?! Over one-hundred reviews?! ... You treat me too kindly! Thank you _so much!!_))


	15. Let Me Amuse You

With everyone back at Merlin's house, there was always noise, always talk, and always something happening. Leon was glad that Cloud was back; though, he did not forget his feelings for the blonde, he acted like they were never there.

Cloud had changed, but, for the better. He smiled more, he spoke more often, and, when he was sure no one else would notice, he'd just linger around Leon a little, the back of his hand maybe brushing against the brunette's side in a fleeting stroke of warmth.

He didn't fight as often as he usually did, but, from what Leon saw of Cloud's fighting now, he was almost unbelievably powerful.

Said blonde then found himself a week or so later, sitting on his favourite reclining couch, chin in his hand, his legs brought up and crossed at the ankle, his eyes staring into space blankly.

The rest of the Restoration Committee had gone shopping on Aerith's orders, claiming that they needed some time off, since Hollow Bastion had almost been finished, and there would be no working today, so, Cloud said that he'd stay at Merlin's. That was a few hours ago, and it had only just turned noon. The blonde was bored out of his mind, and he didn't feel like killing any heartless.

"Leonhart," Cloud called through the empty halls of Merlin's house, for the only other person who said that they didn't want to go shopping.

"_Leonhart!_"

"What?" The brunette poked his head into the living room, his shoulder against the arch of the kitchen. He wore his 'relaxing' attire. A pair of loose black jeans and a button-up white shirt, the first few buttons undone. He usually did relax when there was nothing to do, and he saw no use to wear his usual attire in the presence of no one else.

Cloud apparently was 'no one else'.

The brunette could've sworn that he saw Cloud's blue eyes flicker down his exposed neck and top half of his chest, and he bit his tongue to stop himself smirking. Self-control _indeed_.

The blonde sighed leant back on his recliner, letting his head fall back against it, eyes on the ceiling. "I'm bored, Leonhart," he drawled.

"And what do you want me to do about it, master?" Leon asked sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I didn't know you had a thing for BDSM," Cloud hummed offhandedly before lifting his head back up and looking at the brunette again. "I want you to amuse me," he said.

The brunette nodded, rolling his eyes skyward. "Right. I'll go get my nurse outfit and the cream pies."

Cloud immediately rose his eyebrows.

"_Sarcasm_," Leon stressed, his cheeks burning a very light pink. "_Sarcasm!_"

Looking ever so slightly put-off, Cloud placed his chin back into his hand and did his best to look bored and miserable. Leon never did like leaving someone who was miserable. Letting out a reluctant groan after a moment, the brunette moved into the kitchen and started rummaging around the cupboards.

Waiting patiently, Cloud watched Leon re-enter the living room, two bottles of spirits hanging from one hand, a medium-sized closed box held in the other. When the brunette placed the bottles on the coffee table, Cloud rose an eyebrow. "A bit early, isn't it?"

The brunette placed the box on the table too and shrugged. "You were the one who wanted to be amused," he replied, yanking a checkers board from being tucked under one of the couch cushions, placing it on the table too, before sitting on the couch opposite Cloud, the table between them.

Watching bemusedly, Cloud stared as Leon opened the box, which was filled with about three different sets of shot-glasses; and started placing two of the three kinds onto the checkers board, in the pattern that checkers-pieces usually should've been.

A slow grin melted onto the blonde's face as Leon stood up again and walked back into the kitchen; tall, cylindrical shot-glasses on the brunette's side of the board, and short, sake-glasses on Cloud's side. Letting his recliner snap back into the position of a normal chair, the blonde edged it closer to the table and placed his elbows on his knees, waiting patiently.

Returning with a bowl of pitted olives which he placed on the edge of the table, Leon seated himself on his couch opposite Cloud, and started mixing the drinks.

Finally, it was finished. Basically, just a normal checkers game, but, instead of coloured pieces of plastic as counters; they had shot-glasses filled with mini-martinis.

Four hours and three games later, the two men weren't looking too good.

"I do believe we have sullied one of the most innocent games in the universe, Leonhart," Cloud observed. Surprisingly, he did not slur that much. Leon waved a hand, taking hold of one of his shot-glasses on the board, and jumping two of the other pieces, landing on the back row. "King me," he said.

His opponent picked up one of the olives from the bowl beside the board and placed it into the mini-martini on the back row while the brunette picked up the first shot-glass he jumped, threw it back with a grunt, placed the empty glass on the floor by his ankle, blinked a few times to get his eyes to focus again, and grabbed the second one.

After Leon had finished his shots, Cloud squinted at the table and blinked a couple of times too. "Who's turn is it?"

"I have no idea," croaked Leon, placing his chin in his hand, staring at the board. "Who's winning?" he asked after a moment.

"You, probably," mumbled Cloud, taking one of his pieces and jumping three of Leon's. "But, then again, you're cheating," he said, throwing back his shots one after another before gripping the arm of the recliner he was sitting on to stay upright, squinting at the brunette. "It's two against one."

"Really?" asked the brunette, sounding fascinated, moving his recently-kinged piece back toward him a square. "I didn't know."

"Bull," stated Cloud eloquently. He looked down at the checkers board and frowned. "Wasn't that my piece?"

"No, I think it was mine," replied Leon.

"You sure?"

"As sure as I can be."

"Oh. Is that really sure?"

"I think so."

"Okay, then." Cloud picked up one of his pieces and jumped one of Leon's pieces, placing it on the back row, receiving a unhappy frown from his opponent. "King me," the blonde said before throwing back his shot.

Placing one olive in Cloud's shot-glass and a few other ones in his mouth, Leon looked down at the bowl of olives, to find it nearly empty. "Fuck," he stated flatly, chewing on the small oval fruits.

Cloud staggered to his feet and immediately slapped his hands onto the table, only just keeping himself from falling onto the game of checkers they were playing, the glasses jittering slightly from the sudden bump. Carefully, he pushed himself upright and regained his balance. "I'll get them," he murmured before circling the couches and walking into the kitchen, yanking the fridge door open.

Of course, this would've been a perfect opportunity for Leon to cheat, but, the brunette only used this moment in time to settle further back into his chair and sigh. Cheating would've needed energy and a clear mind, but, unfortunately, the brunette had neither.

Coming back again with another bowl of pitted olives, Cloud grabbed hold of the back Leon's couch so he could lean over and place the bowl beside the other one without falling onto the table.

Turning back again, the blonde tripped over his feet and promptly fell onto Leon.

Letting out a sharp grunt of 'god, you're heavy', Leon stared down at Cloud, who was, on further inspection, on his lap, straddling him, with his nose buried in the brunette's shoulder.

Silence engulfed both men as Cloud straitened up slowly, their eyes fixed on each other's, their breaths, saturated in alcohol; mingled, and heat spread through both their already warm bodies: _burning_.

Very slowly, Cloud dragged a hand upwards and slowly stroked the back of his thumb along Leon's jaw, keeping eye-contact, moving ever-so-slightly closer.

Moving forward, Leon grazed his nose against the blonde's, the combined heat of the two of them making them both sweat, the stench of alcohol making it hard to breathe, one of the brunette's hands sliding up Cloud's thigh leisurely, the rough material of the cargo-pants making his fingers prickle.

Leaning down, letting his cheek graze Leon's, Cloud breathed out gently, his breath ripping along the brunette's jaw and neck, Leon's stormy eyes closing headily, inhaling slowly.

Cloud's fingers slowly threaded through Leon's hair and cupped the back of his head. Burying his nose in the brunette's silky hair and pressing his cheek gently against Leon's, Cloud breathed a quiet question into his ear.

"_Do you remember?_"

Turning his head, Leon slowly let his eyes flutter open, Cloud moving back; but still keeping a hair's breadth away, glowing blue eyes roaming over the brunette's face before coming to a stop on the grey-blue eyes before him.

Finally, Leon rose a hand and gently trailed his gloved fingertips over the blonde's cheek, the warm leather caressing Cloud's soft skin, one fingertip slowly wandering to the edge of his mouth. The blonde man chose that moment to slowly drag his tongue across his lips and gently bite at his bottom lip, giving Leon a glint of white teeth on soft flesh.

Stormy eyes, which had been observing Cloud's mouth intently, slowly rose to meet the blonde's bright blue ones, which stared down at him, half-lidded.

Leon dragged his fingers down Cloud's slender neck slowly, the blonde's eyes closing in content, the brunette slowly trailing his fingers back up and cupping the back of Cloud's neck, spikes of blonde hair tickling at his gloved hand.

Blue eyes fluttered open again and a barely visible smile melted onto Cloud's face as he looked down at Leon, the hand on the back of his neck gently pulling him forward, stopping just as his nose grazed the brunette's. Alcohol-saturated breath mingled and was breathed in, warmth rippling all through both their bodies.

"_Kiss me,_" Cloud demanded softly, his lips millimetres away from Leon's, hot breath rippling over the brunette's lips. Leon opened his mouth and moved forward to comply; to cover his lips with Cloud's. To kiss him, _finally_, after such a long time apart.

There was a bang, and the door of Merlin's house flew open and chatter exploded into the house.

Both Leon and Cloud snapped their heads in the direction of the doorway and paled; Cloud quickly jumping off Leon with the speed of someone sober, the backs of his legs hitting the coffee table, making the glasses jump and wobble, before he quickly staggered over it and fell back into his recliner.

The Restoration Committee entered, and there was a chaotic swirl of talking, noise, and movement as they came in and started going about their business. As she entered, Aerith noticed the two males sitting in the corner. She immediately noticed the shot-glasses, some of which were upturned on the table between Leon and Cloud, and the nearly-empty bottles lying on the floor.

What surprised her, as her friends hurried about her to put their things away, was how Leon and Cloud were acting. Leon was sitting on the couch opposite Cloud watching everyone move around the room, looking a little flushed –maybe from the alcohol?– and shocked. Cloud however, was hunched over with his face in his hands.

Despite her distance from the blonde, Aerith could see the flush crawling up his neck and ears.

Pursing her lips a little, Aerith wondered what the two of them had been doing.

((TBC. Arrrghh! I'm only two and a half chapters in front of you guys, and I've still got three and a half chapters left to go! DAMMIT. But, yes. The Gay is back. I got the mini-martini-checkers idea from a MASH episode. Love that series. Read, enjoy, and review if you feel like it.))


	16. Let Me Warm You

It had been raining on and off in Hollow Bastion lately. The sky would darken, and sheets of ice-cold rain would cover every house, every tree, and every street in a soaking wet blanket of water.

Everyone was either curled up in bed, or doing something indoors. No one went outside that much, fearing a cold, slipping on the wet streets, or being caught away from home by a sudden downpour.

Leon found himself lying on one of the couches in Merlin's, reading a novel, the house quiet and empty.

Yuffie, Aerith and Tifa claimed that the rain was getting them down, so, they decided to go off to Disney Castle to spend some time with the Queen, Cid was off testing out his new gummi-blocks, flying from world to world, Merlin said something about eighteenth-centuary Britain and disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Cloud had gone off somewhere without a word.

Leaving Leon, on his own, with an empty house.

It's been around nine days since the brunette had played that game of checkers with Cloud. The only reason he knew the exact day was because of the fact that he could barely remember anything from it, except the splitting headache he had the day after.

Running a hand through his hair thoughtlessly, Leon stretched on the couch, his button-up shirt left to gape open, exposing his tanned chest and stomach, his black jeans a little crumpled. No one was there to see him be lazy, thus, he was content to make a slob out of himself.

He couldn't work on restoring Hollow Bastion, so, what else was there to do besides read and be a slob?

There was a sharp clap of thunder and Leon ignored it, a flash of light hitting the closed windows. It was night, and yet, it seemed darker than usual. Probably because of the clouds and periodic flashes of lighting.

An orange glow was cast around the living room, Merlin's oven sitting in the corner quietly, burning some logs, the fire casting a flickering, gold-orange light around, sharp, long shadows cast along the walls and floor.

There was a sharp bang and Leon frowned. _That_ definitely didn't sound like thunder. Rolling onto his stomach and looking in the direction of the door of Merlin's house, Leon blinked.

Standing in the doorway was Cloud; looking, for all his worth, like a drowned rat. He was soaked all the way through, water streaming off his clothing, his spikes of gold hair weighed down, his clothes sticking to his skin like another layer. Water was pouring down outside like the air was made of it, the street a little flooded behind the blonde.

Kicking the door closed behind him with a heel, the soaked blonde let out a quiet sigh before shaking his head like a dog, water flying from his hair before he straitened up again, raising a soaking hand to run it through his moist blonde locks, unsticking it from his damp cheeks and forehead.

"And the girls think you're _clean-cut _and _cultured_," Leon smirked from his place on the couch, his chin resting on the arm of the couch.

Cloud glanced over to him and gave him a weak smile. "I'm freezing, Leonheart. Have mercy," he mumbled, the brunette hearing the blonde's teeth chattering lightly.

Glancing down to see the puddle of water the blonde was standing in, Leon let out an ever-suffering groan and heaved himself off the couch and onto his feet, dropping his book onto the coffee-table, before slipping his hands into his pockets.

"Stay there," Leon sighed, walking past Cloud and into the depths of Merlin's house, knowing that the wizard wouldn't like it if he came back to find water all through his home.

Entering the bathroom, Leon grabbed a towel, a bath-robe and one of the empty baskets for dirty clothing, before walking out again and slipping into Cloud's room. Flicking one of the drawers open, the brunette snagged one of the blonde's black boxer-shorts, and walked back out.

Walking back into the living room, Leon found Cloud exactly where he'd left him, the blonde just standing there, dripping wet, his body trembling now and again. Looking up at the brunette when he entered, a smirk appeared on Cloud's tinged-blue lips at the sight of the silk shorts hanging from Leon's fingers. "You went though my _underwear drawer_, Leonhart?" he asked, amused.

"I kept my eyes closed the _whole time_," Leon replied with a smirk, throwing the towel at Cloud and hitting the blonde in the face with it.

Grabbing the towel before it hit the ground and rubbing at his damp spikes of blonde hair, Cloud let out a quiet snort of amusement. Leon dropped the small basket by the blonde's feet and straitened up, hooking the shorts and bath-robe over his arm, waiting for Cloud silently, watching him closely with stormy eyes.

Chucking the towel back at Leon, which the brunette caught and slung over his arm too, Cloud sighed, raising a hand and dragging his shirt-zip down, before slowly peeling the drenched article of clothing off his wet, smooth skin.

Swallowing, Leon flickered his eyes away before looking back at Cloud, urging away the flush fighting to appear on his cheeks.

Dropping his shirt in the basket by his feet, Cloud ran a hand over his smooth, cleansed left arm. No scab. No Geostigma. He was cured. Leaning down and picking at his laces, the blonde easily yanked off his boots and socks, dropping his soaking wet boots by the door; his socks in the basket with his shirt. Straitening up again, Cloud yanked at his belt.

His cheeks tinged a very light pink, Leon stared at a crack in one of the walls, hearing a wet slap and musical tinkle of Cloud's pants and belt falling into the the basket too.

Feeling the towel being yanked out of his grasp, the brunette looked back at Cloud automatically, his eyes falling on the blonde, who was wearing nothing but his soaking wet boxers, a film of water all over his body, making his skin sheen.

Leon bit his tongue.

Dragging the towel over his body and drying it quickly, Cloud looked back up at the brunette and raised his eyebrows. "I'm not baring by ass to you, Leonhart," he stated, holding out his hand.

Getting the hint, Leon swapped Cloud's towel for the bath-robe and looked back at the crack in the wall, hearing the rustle of material as the blonde slipped into the robe and tied it around his waist. The brunette continued to stare at the crack as Cloud peeled off his soaking we boxers, dropped them into the pile of drenched clothing, and grabbed the dry ones hanging limply from Leon's fingers.

After Cloud had put the boxers on, he picked at the knot of the belt of the bath-robe and let it fall open. Leon looked back at him; Cloud now dressed, so to speak, and the brunette leant down, picking up the basket of wet clothing and pushing into the blonde's arms.

"I'm not doing your laundry, Strife," he smirked, receiving a hurt, mocking pout in return, before he turned and walked down the hall to put the towel hanging in his arms back in the bathroom.

When he returned, the chairs from the kitchen were placed by the front door, Cloud's clothes draped over them, dripping onto the already-wet ground. The blonde in question was standing in front of Merlin's oven, still wearing just his boxers and the bath-robe, letting the fire warm his front slowly, his whole body shivering now and again.

Leon's grey-blue eyes looked away from Cloud and fell upon the cupboard with the mugs in it.

A few minutes later, a mug decided in front of Cloud's nose and the blonde rose his eyebrows, staring at it for a moment, before following the hand holding it there; over his shoulder to Leon, who rose his eyebrows patiently.

Looking back at the mug, the blonde took it in his hands after a moment, his fingers curling around it and immediately being warmed by the sugary-smelling, hot drink in it. Sniffing lightly, Cloud smiled. Hot cocoa.

Glancing to his side, the blonde saw Leon step into place there, in front of the oven too, being warmed by the lively flames, his stormy eyes staring down at them. "You didn't poison it, did you?" Cloud asked after a moment, a small smile on his face, the mug held in his hands.

"Actually, I didn't," Leon replied, looking at Cloud, a smirk melting onto his face. "I was going to leave that in the cereal." The brunette quickly rose a hand and placed it on his chest, looking mock-shocked. "Oh _no_," he gasped, "I spoiled the surprise! Darn!"

Cloud sniggered breathily, a bright grin taking over his face. Looking away and taking a quick sip of the soothing drink to hide his smile, Cloud felt the warm drink warm his insides gently. Dragging his tongue over his lips thoughtfully, the blonde stared down at the flames between the grill of the oven, the golden glow reflecting in his bright eyes.

The two men continued to stand there, the thunderstorm continuing outside, the occasional flash of light from the lightning jumping in through the windows, Cloud slowly finishing his cooling drink, Leon just standing there, his hands in his pockets.

Finally, Cloud stared into his empty mug, the last few dregs gathering in the corners, cold and useless in the shadow. Turning his blue eyes to his side, Cloud looked at Leon.

The brunette had turned around a few minutes ago, the oven warming his back, his front completely in shadow. The flickering gold and orange flames made his silky brown hair glint and seem almost metallic, sharp shadows engulfing the folds in his shirt and pants, hiding his face and front from view.

There was a _clink_ as Cloud placed his empty mug on the oven-top, Leon looking up at the sound, turning his face to see Cloud.

The blonde was looking at him, the golden flames of the fire making his hair look like it was truly made of the precious metal, his skin glowing beneath the light, his eyes, an unearthly blue, glowed in the darkness.

Raising a hand slowly, Cloud took hold of Leon's collar, gently pulling at it, causing Leon to turn and face him completely so that it didn't cause him any discomfort. Letting go of the collar, the blonde's fingertips ghosted down Leon's exposed neck, chest, and down his stomach, the brunette letting in a shaky breath, Cloud's fingers coming to a stop just above his belt.

Slowly slipping his fingers under the smooth leather, Cloud gripped at the belt gently, slowly pulling it toward him. Leon took a step forward, guided by the blonde's movements, and found himself tantalisingly close to Cloud, warmth radiating from both their bodies, seemingly a lot warmer than the oven flames.

Slipping his fingers from Leon's belt, Cloud's fingers trailed up the brunette's stomach and chest, dancing over heated, tanned skin, to slip around the back of his neck, tangling in his silky brown hair.

One of Leon's hands slipped out of his pocket and cupped Cloud's cheek, stroking along his smooth jaw as the blonde moved forward and pressed his lips against the brunette's, slipping his tongue into Leon's mouth.

He tasted like chocolate.

((TBC. AND, WE HAVE GAY. HURAH. This was all going to take place in the bathroom, but, I thought, what the hell. They'll do it in the livingroom instead. The next chapter is chocker-blocked full of Gay, so, enjoy. Writing chapter nineteen right now, even though I really should be working. Read, enjoy, review.))


	17. Let Me Kis You

He tasted like chocolate.

The kiss was gentle, soothing, but hardly chaste. Cloud pressed close to Leon, their bodies fitting together perfectly, his fingers flexing in the brunette's silky hair, pulling him closer. Leon slipped his free hand under the blonde's robe, his fingers ghosting over the smooth muscles covering Cloud's ribs before stroking up and down his spine.

Cloud pulled back just enough for the two of them to take a breath, before Leon pushed forward and claimed the blonde's lips as his again, forcing Cloud's mouth open and stroking his tongue along the blonde's.

With a gentle trill and a shiver, Cloud rose his other hand to place it directly over the brunette's heart, feeling it beat strongly under his palm, the heat of Leon's flesh burning against his fingers.

Pulling back a little, Leon felt Cloud bite at his lips possessively, the blonde's nails digging into his chest before the hand became relaxed again. This was far better than anything he could've concocted in his half-assed fantasies. Coaxing Cloud's tongue into his mouth, Leon sucked on it, receiving a groan in reply, before giving the blonde's tongue a sharp bite; hard enough to hurt, and only just soft enough not to draw blood; but really close to it.

Cloud pressed closer at the pain, Leon feeling just how aroused the blonde was, and, no doubt, vice versa. The brunette deepened the kiss with a moan, Cloud allowing himself to submit for the moment before Leon slid his hand down Cloud's neck to place it across the man's clavicles, gently pushing him back.

They separated reluctantly, the blonde biting at the edge of his lip as he stared expectantly at Leon with lust-darkened eyes.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, okay?" panted Leon, his hand still placed at the blonde's clavicles, holding him back that little bit, the brunette licking his own swollen lips.

Leon's hand was easily swatted to the side and Cloud promptly stuck his tongue down the brunette's throat.

Clearly, that was a 'no'.

During a heated battle of teeth and tongues, a passing thought flitted through Leon's lust-clouded mind and mentioned the fact that it might be a bad idea to continue. Finally, he pulled back and latched onto Cloud's neck, just under his ear, the blonde letting out a heady pant and burying his nose in the brunette's shoulder as Leon's talented tongue reduced his fraying nerves to tingles.

"Does this mean," mumbled Leon into Cloud's soft flesh, raising his head a little to kiss and nip along the blonde's jaw, "that we're..."

He didn't really want to use the word. It just didn't sit well with him.

Cloud nodded in answering to the unfinished question, turning his head and pressing a kiss against Leon's lips, his fingers flexing in his silky brown hair again. "I just have one condition," he breathed against his lips.

The brunette blinked. "'_Condition_'?" he repeated, a mocking smile spreading over his face.

Giving him an ever so irritated glare, Cloud nipped lightly at Leon's lip before nodding. "Yes, just a simple one, though."

"I await my master's orders," Leon smirked, raising an eyebrow. Cloud gave him a light shove of exasperation that barely made him take a single step back, but Cloud quickly reconciled with a quick lick and kiss to the brunette's throat.

"I just..." Cloud let out a quiet sigh, looking away to stare into the flames of the oven beside them, which felt a lot cooler than the heat generated by the two of them. Finally, the blonde looked back at Leon, to find the brunette watching him uncertainly.

"Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

Leon blinked, and then it clicked in the back of his head. He rose is eyebrows.

"They don't know," he stated. "About your--"

"Sexuality?" Cloud cut in, sounding just that little bit defensive. "I don't see why they should. I'm not dating any of them."

Rolling his eyes, the brunette gave Cloud a reprimanding look. "Tifa thinks you're single."

"I was."

"And strait."

"Her mistake."

"God, you are an _ass_, Strife," Leon frowned. Tifa deserved to know. Hell, _everyone_ did!

Cloud smirked back at Leon, giving him a flash of perfect white teeth; more a challenge than anything else. "And you're a _dick_. Look at that. We match." Without further ado, the blonde man shoved Leon against the wall and kissed him deeply, his fingers gouging into his shoulders, the brunette's fingers digging into Cloud's back under his robe.

After a moment, Cloud pulled back, ignoring the slight groan of loss from the other man, sweeping his tongue over the brunette's swollen lips. "Do you agree to my condition?" he breathed.

"Fine," Leon panted, nipping lightly at the tip of Cloud's tongue. "Only if you agree to mine."

Unearthly blue eyes flickered between Leon's half-lidded stormy grey-blue ones apprehensively before closing, Cloud pressing a soft kiss against the edge of the brunette's mouth: a silent question.

"We tell them eventually," Leon stated, dragging his fingers up and down the blonde's smooth spine soothingly, Cloud opening his eyes and staring into his own stormy ones silently. "If," Leon breathed, pressing a kiss against the blonde's cheek, "If, everything works out. Long-term."

Cloud's blue eyes flickered to the side, hesitant. He really saw no need to tell everyone about their relationship. It wasn't any of their business. Just his and Leon's. No one else's.

Finally, he looked back at the brunette; to stare into those stormy eyes... Oh, _God_, Leon was beautiful.

Moving forward without a thought, Cloud pressed his lips against Leon's, licking at the supple lines of flesh gently before nodding against him, agreeing.

"Fine," the blonde whispered.

Smiling, Leon pushed forward; claiming Cloud's lips with a deep kiss, pushing away from the wall, taking small steps, making the blonde walk backwards, mouth quite occupied.

The backs of Cloud's knees met with the arm of one of the couches and he pressed close to Leon, his nails scraping down, either side of the brunette's strong neck, leaving two sets of five parallel, raw-red lines.

Pulling away from the kiss, Leon ignored the small, impatient glare he got from Cloud, but just gave the blonde a cheeky smirk before shoving him backwards.

His back meeting the couch with a dull thump, Cloud let out a grunt, his robe falling open once again, revealing his taught stomach and toned chest, his knees hooked over the arm of the couch he had just been pushed over; Leon standing there with his warm hands on the blondes knees, keeping them there.

Leaning between Cloud's knees and over the arm of the couch, Leon breathed over the blonde's stomach, making the submitting swordsman bite at the edge of his lip in a refraining manner, his arms flicked above his head. Pressing a wet kiss against the flesh just above Cloud's navel, the brunette felt the blonde's speeding pulse.

Placing a knee on the arm of the couch, in between Cloud's legs, Leon kissed up the blonde's body, his kisses open-mouthed and wet. Cloud, underneath him, arching up to the brunette, panting, his head flicked to the side.

Placing his other knee beside the blonde's hip on the couch's cushions, Leon slid a hand languidly up Cloud's leg, his fingers dancing over flexing muscles, the blonde shifting and squirming urgently under him.

Licking at the flesh directly over Cloud's heart, Leon glanced up at Cloud just as the blonde arched off the couch, his head thrown back, his throat exposed. Moving up, the brunette dipped his tongue in the hollow between the blonde's clavicles before nipping up a taught tendon that lead to Cloud's jaw, the submitting male panting headily into his ear.

"What were you waiting for?" Leon breathed into Cloud's ear, his lust-clouded mind somehow still mildly coherent. He placed his free arm on one side of Cloud's head, licking at his jaw lightly.

The blonde didn't even open his eyes. "Pardon?" he panted. Oh, he's polite when he's horny. Okay.

Leon cupped Cloud through his boxers, the blonde immediately gritting his teeth and throwing his head back, trying to bite back a groan that easily flew from his vocal chords anyway. The brunette covered Cloud's throat with his mouth, sucking on the swordsman's adams-apple as he palmed the blonde's erection, quiet, breathy keening sounds floating from Cloud's throat. Those sounds just made Leon move just a little bit faster, trying to ignore his own throbbing erection that was trapped in his baggy black jeans.

Pulling back from the blonde's throat and sweeping his tongue over the moist flesh, Leon swallowed thickly. "When you said 'not yet'," he murmured against the soft skin, sliding his hand that was cupping the blonde's erection down Cloud's leg; away from the hard, heated flesh that needed attention. "What were you waiting for?"

"If I tell you, will you promise to shut up and get on with it?" Cloud replied throatily after a few deep breaths, as though he had been starved of oxygen for years on end. Leon nodded, shifting so he was hanging over the blonde, his brown hair hanging around his face, the ends of the silky locks only barely brushing the blonde's cheeks, blue-grey eyes fixed on Cloud's own closed ones.

His unearthly blue eyes fluttering open, Cloud stared up at Leon for a second before answering. "Sephiroth," he said, his voice blank of emotion.

Leon frowned down at the blonde, a little confused. "What has he got to do with it?" he asked, stormy eyes roaming Cloud's face.

"You would've been hurt if we got together when he was still around," the blonde murmured, shrugging simply, eyes never leaving the male above him. "I tried to defeat him after we kissed, but, the fight was longer than I expected and he nearly killed me." Cloud shrugged again, as though it happened often. "I decided it better to keep training, and then try again."

The information making sense after a moment of thought, Leon nodded. "So, you made me wait because you were afraid of me getting hurt because of Sephiroth?" he asked.

The blonde nodded in reply, shifting slightly under him.

The brunette scoffed quietly. "You hurt me anyway by making me wait, Strife. You--" he was silenced by a sharp tug of a lock of his hair. He winced and blinked down at Cloud, who was looking at him with a clearly unimpressed expression.

"I explained it to you," the blonde stated, giving the lock of hair caught around his fingers another sharp tug. "You're _still_ talking._ Shut the fuck up._" With that, Cloud grabbed a fist full of Leon's silky brown hair and yanked the brunette downwards, crushing their lips together with enough force to bruise.

It was three days before the rain stopped for good.

The girls came back the following evening, to find the living room and kitchen had been rearranged a little, slightly cleaner than when they had left; found Cloud eating a tuna sandwich in the kitchen, and Leon came out from his room wearing his usual attire at the sound of them coming back.

"So, how was the Queen?" Leon asked, leaning against the doorway that connected the kitchen and the hall. He pulled his fur collar a little closer to his neck before slipping is hands into his pockets. Tifa supposed it was because of the cold.

"She's well, I sent her your love," Aerith explained warmly, taking in the slightly stiff nod from the other brunette, and eyed the two men thoughtfully as Cloud ripped the crust off the edges of his sandwich.

"Anything interesting happen while we were away?" the pretty flower-girl asked, Yuffie jumping up and down on one of the couches, happy to be home, Tifa standing at Aerith's side, her bright brown eyes wide with curiosity.

Neither swordsman looked at each other. Cloud took another bite out of his sandwich, shrugging in a way that clearly meant nothing earth-shatteringly significant had happened, and Leon just grunted.

"Nothing happened," Leon said.

None of the girls noticed the brush of Cloud's fingers that danced teasingly over Leon's hip, and the quick, restrained glare he received from one _very controlled_ Squall Leonhart.

((TBC. I was almost not going to post this until two days from now, because of home and internet problems _and _my current writing-slump, but, I thought I'd get off my ass and post it. The rating is going up when I post the next chapter, but, there might be more than one delay posting chapters from now. Writing slump _plus_ limited time on the computer _equals_ a few hours of obscene swearing a _day_. Read and enjoy.))


	18. Let Me Pleasure You

A month. Cloud waited a whole _month_ to ask the question.

The question Leon really didn't want to answer.

"Can I call you by your real name?"

The brunette stood at the window of the living room of Merlin's house, his hands placed on the sill, his eyes fixed on the street in front of him. Cloud stood only just at arm's length, out of view for anyone who looked into the house through the window.

They'd been 'together' for a month. No one was the wiser, apparently.

The two of them were almost terrifyingly good actors.

"Leonhart _is_ my real name," Leon whispered after an extended silence between the blonde and he, not looking at Cloud. Tifa and Aerith were in the kitchen. They could notice that the two men were being more than friendly if they weren't careful.

"You know what I mean," Cloud replied evenly. He was the one who wanted to keep the relationship a secret. If he felt that they could speak about this matter in a place such as this, it was _his_ decision. Leon glanced sideways at the blonde, just in time to see those unearthly blue eyes fix unwaveringly on him.

Cloud simply refused to refer to Leon by his new name. It was always 'Leonhart' or a very creatively lewd remark. Never 'Leon'.

After a long, mutual silence, grey-blue eyes roaming over the blonde's face, while Cloud's eyes just watched him closely, Leon finally nodded. "Fine," he whispered. "But, only in private." The blonde deserved to call him by his real name, but, if Leon didn't like it, he'd definitely say so.

The tiniest of smiles crossed Cloud's face: barely visible, but, making his whole being seem to glow. Leon couldn't help smile back.

The door opened behind Cloud and Yuffie bounded in, her eyes immediately falling on Leon, who's smile immediately disappeared and he punched Cloud across the face.

The blonde took half a startled step back, his head directed away, a hand on his cheek. He looked back at the brunette, his pupils contracted into pinpricks once again, echoing the time the brunette had punched him in Port Royal, an emotionless mask on his face, just like before. Yuffie let out an alarmed squawk at the sudden show of violence; Tifa and Aerith looking up from the kitchen.

The ninja's noise did not go unnoticed by the blonde, who quickly knew why Leon has punched him. Basically just a distraction: just to get Yuffie to overlook the peaceful smile that was on Leon's face when she came in; that she'd seen by accident. Without a thought, Cloud shot out a boot and kicked the brunette sharply on the chest, making him slam against the wall behind him.

"_Boys!_" Tifa cried from the kitchen, hurrying over. The Restoration Committee had been witness to many a violent fight between the two swordsmen: it seemed to just be a way of life, and the times it happened within a week were increasing. But, that didn't mean that any of the females liked to see it.

The brown-haired swordsman coughed sharply, dodging Tifa's elegant hands that tried to hold him away from Cloud, the blonde quickly ducking Yuffie's restraining arms, the blonde backing out of the door quickly, Leon following without hesitation, hands balled into fists.

"We gotta stop them!" Yuffie cried, flinching as Leon punched Cloud sharply in the gut, receiving a violent elbow in the chest in return, the two men pausing momentarily in their fighting to quickly work their way quickly up the stairs to the bailey; a more roomy fighting arena.

Aerith sighed from her place in the kitchen. "Let them be," she murmured gently, the two other dark-haired girls turning to look at her pleadingly. "I think they need this."

Indeed they did.

Leon slammed his fist into the back of Cloud's neck and the blonde flew forwards, only just stopping himself cracking his forehead against the stone wall in the bailey. He slapped his hands onto the flat rock and pivoted around sharply, kicking Leon across the cheek, making the brunette's body snap around.

Panting and looking back at the blonde through his curtain of silky hair, blood leaking from his bruised cheek, Leon couldn't stop the wide smirk taking over his face despite the pain. Leaning against the stone wall, his hands flat behind him, Cloud returned a smug grin of his own.

Pushing away from the wall, the blonde walked briskly backwards toward the restoration site, his eyes still fixed on the brunette. Leon quickly straightened, letting his neck crack back into place, following Cloud, his hands flexing before balling into fists again.

Neither of the two men had their swords, and, truthfully, fighting bare-fisted against someone of near-same strength was truly an enjoyable thing. _Especially_ when you liked being hurt physically.

Leon had divulged that tiny bit of information recently to his blonde partner, and Cloud had simply stared at him for a few minutes, at a loss for words, before a very wide, very, _very_ smug smirk melted onto his face.

One of the most violent fist-fights in the history of The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee happened just minutes after that conversation, and Leon still had dreams about it that made him sweat.

Cloud, apparently, didn't mind being hit, finding the pain 'soothing' –Leon stated he didn't understand how that worked, and the blonde said he liked throbbing pain better than sharp pain from blades, because it proved to him that his heart was still beating–, and got the same salacious high as Leon when they fought bare-handed.

It was a rule that no makeshift weapons were to be used in their bare-handed fights, and that there would be no intentionally broken bones. Otherwise, the fight would have to stop and they would have to heal themselves. Frankly, healing was cheating, and it just made the fight seem useless.

Bashing the crap out of one-another was purely for enjoyment.

And, enjoy it, the two swordsmen _did_.

A fist was slammed into Cloud's ribs and the blonde doubled over before he was grabbed by the wrists and his back slammed against one of the jagged rocks in the restoration site, the edge digging sharply into his spine, bruising him.

Leon and Cloud stood there, pressed against each other, panting heavily. Hot breath mingling and gusting over their faces and necks. The two men took a moment to catch their breaths.

"You're holding back," the brunette accused quietly.

"Yes." Cloud didn't even try to deny it.

Capturing the blonde's lips with his own, Leon drew the blonde into a deep, lustful, passionate kiss. The two of them could taste each other's blood on their tongues; Cloud's lip having been split a while ago, and a few of Leon's molars having been loosened.

Sucking urgently on Cloud's lip, tonging the small, bleeding gash, Leon heard the blonde let out a quiet, breathy sigh.

"_Don't,_" the brunette demanded against his lips before pushing closer, delving into Cloud's mouth with his blood-saturated tongue. The blonde greedily sucked on the bloody muscle, making Leon groan and press closer, their erections rubbing together between them, through tight leather and loose cargo pants.

Twisting one hand free of the brunette's grasp, Cloud gripped a handful of Leon's silky hair painfully tight, pressing as close as he could, biting urgently at the brunette's lips and tongue. Leon drew away and Cloud's hand flew from his hair before punching him sharply across the face with almost unimaginable force.

The brunette's body wrenched away and he was slammed onto all-fours, pain shooting through his whole spine and jaw, before suddenly he felt someone jam their knee into the small of his back and he slammed into the ground under him, dirt sticking to his bloody cheek and all his breath fleeing his lungs.

"This _better_?" Cloud panted huskily into his ear, taking a moment to drag his tongue over the shell languidly and bite at the lobe, his hands grasping Leon's shoulders painfully hard.

A breathless, lustful moan was all the assent he needed from the brunette.

Sliding his hands down Leon's shoulders, Cloud planted his hands on either side of the brunette's head, dipping his neck to place a wet kiss against the back of Leon's neck. Suddenly, one of Leon's arms shot back and he slammed his elbow against the blonde's exposed ribs, Cloud immediately jumping off the other man, stumbling back a few paces.

Leon rose to his feet as quickly as he could, pain sparking up and down his spine, breathing hard: eyes fixed on the blonde, who stood a few metres away.

Coughing sharply, blood speckled the ground in front of Cloud, and Leon froze.

Curling an arm around his middle, Cloud placed a hand against the place under his arm where the Gunblade-weilder had elbowed him, fingers gently kneading into the flesh.

Another cough, and a stream of scarlet liquid flowed from in between Cloud's soft lips and broke into droplets, spotting the flat ground in front of his thick leather boots- with fresh blood.

_Fuck_, thought Leon. He'd broken a rib.

Harsh blue eyes looked up at concerned grey-blue ones, and suddenly Cloud kicked some dirt into the air. Leon let out a sharp yell as the dirt flew his face and into his eyes. Suddenly his legs were kicked out from under him, his back meeting the ground with a sharp _CRASH_, the metal grating he fell on jittering noisily and digging into his flesh.

A foot slammed into his chest and he grunted, staring up at Cloud; who pushed his thick-soled boot a little harder into his chest, putting more pressure directly over the brunette's heart.

"_Cheat_," Leon grunted, blinking the dirt out of his eyes, trying to breathe properly as his ribs were compressed by the pressure of Cloud's boot. The blonde just stood over him, pushing his boot just a little harder and harder into his heart.

Stormy eyes stared up at unearthly blue ones, and Cloud stepped over him and straddled him, pressing his bloody lips against Leon's own.

Pushing himself into a sitting position, Leon gently let his fingers dance over the blonde's side, tracing his broken rib, before gently ushering the blonde off his lap.

Doing as he was told, Cloud slipped off Leon's lap and watched silently as the brunette got onto his knees and helped Cloud lay on the ground, the brunette settling himself in between the blonde's spread legs as he dragged Cloud's shirt-zip down.

Cloud's shirt fell open, revealing numerous bruises and a large purple-red blotchy one that was slowly expanding across his side. Leon pulled away, gently stroking his smooth leather-clad fingertips over the unbroken, blotchy skin.

Neither of them said anything as the brunette flicked open a Potion and tipped the contents of the healing liquid over the blonde's broken ribs. Cloud let in a shaky breath as his whole side glowed and healed: leaving smooth unsullied flesh across his ribs, but his other wounds still untouched and bleeding.

Leaning down again, Leon pressed a gentle kiss against the blonde's smooth ribs, exactly where he'd broken the bone. A silent apology. Cloud's eyes fluttered closed and he said nothing. Getting up again and pressing his lips against the blonde's bloody ones; Leon was immediately welcomed, Cloud tangling one hand into his silky brown hair and biting at his lips.

Pulling away after a moment, Leon crawled slowly down the blonde's body, kissing wetly over heated, bruised, sweaty skin. Taking one nipple into his mouth and biting at it, Cloud arched against him, quiet, breathy sounds floating from deep in his throat. Leon continued down the blonde's smooth stomach, his tongue dipping into his navel quickly before he came to a stop over the very noticable bulge in the loose cargo-pants below him.

Slender fingers raked through Leon's silky hair and he pressed a kiss against the soft flesh above the blonde's navel, raising one of his own hands to slip Cloud's belt out of it's loops and drag down the zip of the baggy pants he wore.

Cloud's head fell back onto the metal grate carelessly with a sigh, his eyes tightly closed.

It was, by far, not the first time Leon had done this to the blonde. Hell, he'd done it more than he _should've_ in only a month. Cloud had been the first one to take their relationship to the next level. Leon had just awoke suddenly in the early hours of the morning around a week and a half after that stormy night in Hollow Bastion, to find the blonde climbing onto his bed.

Leon asked what the hell the blonde was doing, and Cloud said, quite simply, that 'he was doing this on a whim, because he thought the two of them were respectable adults who could stay quiet, and if Leon didn't like it, it was his _own damn fault_.'

To say the least, Leon _did_ like it.

And, two days later, he decided to return the favour.

Dragging his tongue up Cloud's throbbing member, he heard the blonde pant and throw back his head, one of his knees bending; lifting slowly in the brunette's peripheral vision. Placing a hand on the blonde's thigh, he pushed the leg back down again, tugging Cloud's pants a little further down his hips, but not completely, taking the head of the blonde's erection into his mouth.

A quiet, breathless sound fluttered from Cloud's throat and the brunette easily took the rest of the blonde's erection into his mouth with practised ease; intense wet heat engulfing the blonde and making him shift and squirm urgently on the ground, Leon's hands keeping his hips firmly in place as Cloud let out breathless mewls and gasps.

Leon never knew torture could elicit such beautiful, perfect sounds from the other. The brunette just stayed there, Cloud's throbbing erection engulfed completely, not making a movement, just letting the pure heat of the other burn into his skin: make him beg. Stormy blue eyes just stared up at the blonde, who panted like he'd been starved of air.

Cloud finally had enough teasing. Biting his split lip sharply, ignoring the blood that wept from it, the blonde quickly bent a leg and shot it out again, kicking Leon in the side, eyes firmly closed.

There was a sharp scrape of teeth on the underside of his erection and the blonde did his best not to moan. His best wasn't good enough, but Leon liked that. Sucking and bobbing his head, the brunette deep-throated Cloud's member, the blonde's hand that was gripping his hair, flexing almost urgently.

Leon continued this ministrations, sliding a hand up the blonde's leg, eyes gently closed, concentrating purely on the blonde's pleasure, his breathing, his movements, his _sounds_.

Leon scraped his teeth against the sensitive flesh again, and he heard the barely-audible shuddering breath that he'd learnt to listen for.

Hollowing out his cheeks and sucking sharply, Leon opened his eyes just in time to see Cloud open his mouth in a silent scream and arch his back off the ground in a perfect bow, orgasm crashing over his taught body; the brunette swallowing all evidence without hesitation as the blonde's trembling body fell back onto the metal grating beneath him.

Easily tucking the blonde back into his pants and slipping his belt back on, the Gunblade wielder pressed warm, affectionate kisses up Cloud's body, pressing a lingering kiss directly over his hammering heart. Finally coming to his neck, Leon licked at the blonde's throat gently before lifting himself to capture Cloud's lips with his own, letting the blonde taste his essence on his lips.

"Squall?"

Leon's eyes opened and he stared down at Cloud, the blonde looking up at him with a content but schooled expression. He was gauging the brunette's reaction.

For some reason, that name didn't sound as filthy as it usually did, whenever someone else said it.

With a tiny smile, Leon leant down and pressed a gentle kiss against the edge of the blonde's lips. He didn't know why, but Cloud could use his name without making it seem like a foul, impure curse.

A smile spread across Cloud's lips and he curled a hand around the back of the brunette's head, gripping at the silky locks of hair, pulling Leon into a deep, soft, content kiss. The two of them stayed there, licking and kissing gently, blood and semen all through each of their mouthes, until Cloud let out a quiet sigh and gripped Leon's hair a little tighter.

The brunette looked down to see bright blue eyes glinting mischievously.

"My turn," Cloud smirked.

Leon couldn't even blink before his back was slammed against the ground, his shirt and jacket pulled off, and heated, bloody, possessive kisses were pressed down his stomach as his belt-buckle was yanked off.

Letting his head fall back onto the hard ground, Leon sank his teeth into his leather-covered knuckles to stop himself making any pleasure-drenched noise that longed to be heard.

((TBC. My writing-slump keeps coming and going, but I'm slowly working my way through it. This is a _series_, remember. Based on the titles of the chapters. That is why there are two chapters titled 'let me kiss you', and the fact I've skipped some important details completely, like Cloud and Sephiroth's fight. Anyway, this is my first written blowjob, so, be gentle with me. I've come to like violent pairings, so, this chapter was purely for my own sadistic enjoyment. Read, enjoy, and review.))


	19. Let Me Claim You

It was two in the morning when Leon felt the telltale inkling of hunger, half-open eyes staring blankly at the ceiling of his bedroom. Making no attempt to go back to sleep, the brown-haired Gunblade wielder slipped off his bed, pulled on a clean, white shirt, and made his way to the kitchen.

He and Cloud had been together for at least four months now, and Leon couldn't help feeling that something was missing. Sending a quick glance at the blonde's closed bedroom door, Leon passed it and padded into the kitchen, eyes roaming the dark room.

Since Cloud wanted the relationship between the two of them to be completely secret, he'd refused to let the brunette leave any hickeys in any places that might be seen, or touch him when other people were around. The occasional blowjob in the deserted restoration site was not ruled out, thankfully.

Sighing and flipping out a sharp knife from the drawer, Leon stared blankly at the blade.

He loved Cloud. He really did. But, he wanted to make it _known_ that the beautiful blonde was his, and _only_ his. Not being able to touch him, kiss him in public; it was almost like Cloud didn't trust him.

The only marks he was allowed to make for everyone else to see were bruises from his fists and cuts from his blade. Leon found that depressing.

A quiet _tap_ brought Leon out of his thoughts, lowering the blade he was staring at, looking up at the noise.

Cloud stood in the doorway of the hall, his hand brought up and placed against the wall beside him, one nail placed against the polished wood. He wore his usual black shorts and shirt, his hair a little messier than it usually was, his eyes half open, but alert in the darkness.

"Why are you up?" the blonde breathed, sliding his hand down the wall for it to drop by his side.

Grey-blue eyes floated away from Cloud, to the blade Leon held in his hand. "Just hungry," he mumbled after a moment, placing the blade on the bench-top before him with slender fingers.

He barely heard the blonde in the doorway advance on him, the only evidence Cloud had moved being the almost silent shift of material. Leon felt supple fingertips drag down his arm and he looked to his side, Cloud standing so intoxicatingly close.

The blonde slid between Leon and the bench in front of him, pressing his front gently against the brunette's, nudging Leon's nose with his own. It was one of the rare times Cloud felt like expressing his affection for Leon in Merlin's house. The brunette placed both his hands on either side of the blonde, flat against the bench behind him, Cloud's warm hands sliding around his torso to link together at the small of his back.

"Why don't you trust me?" Leon whispered.

Cloud paused, his bright blue eyes; glowing in the darkness, staring into Leon's own stormy blue-grey ones.

"I do trust you," the blonde mumbled, nudging his nose against the brunettes again, pressing their bodies just a little closer, fitting together perfectly.

"No you don't." Leon trailed the tip of his nose down Cloud's cheek, down his jaw, burying it in fine silky golden hairs at the nape of his neck, pressing a gentle kiss against the soft flesh just under his ear. He felt no pulse.

"Why do you assume you know how I feel?" Cloud whispered, blue eyes staring blankly over the brunette's shoulder. A single beat of his heart channelled through his veins, the lone pulse felt by Leon's lips, pressed against the blondes jugular.

"Why don't you tell me?" Leon returned, straitening up, stormy eyes fixing on the glowing blue ones before him. Cloud didn't move, he didn't make a sound: just stared fixedly into the brunette's eyes, _burning_ into him. Talking about it wasn't an option.

Leon scoffed gently, bowing his head, his silky curtain of hair hiding his face. "Of course," he murmured.

"You don't talk about _your feelings_," Cloud murmured, the word 'feelings' coming off his tongue like one he'd never heard or used before; foreign. _new_. "I don't see why I should start."

Lifting his head, Leon stared unwaveringly at the blonde through his curtain of silky brown hair. Sighing and leaning back, he removed his hands from the bench-top, curling his arms behind himself, unlinking Cloud's hands from behind him to take a step away from the blonde and walk toward living room.

Leon leant his shoulder against the arch between the living room and kitchen, his back to Cloud.

"Do you want me to talk?"

Looking over his shoulder, the brunette stared at Cloud, who was exactly where he'd left him; arms hanging by his sides, blue, unearthly eyes fixed on him. "You're not going to," Leon stated.

"No," agreed Cloud, his face blank of all emotion. "I'm not, but do you want me to?"

Letting out a quiet snort of aggravation, the brunette turned back to the blonde, glaring at him.

"I want you to tell me you _trust_ me. Because, as far as I'm concerned, you don't." His voice was soft, he didn't want to wake anyone up, but it was hard to keep from shouting. He strode toward Cloud with every word, anger bubbling up inside of him like a foul gas in a hot liquid. "You never let me kiss you in public, you never let me touch you in the streets. How do I know you actually--"

He stopped dead.

Cloud stood before him, face emotionless, but his eyes burning with pure and utter _rage_. He held the knife Leon had been fondling earlier against the brunette's neck, pressing against the tanned skin, tiny beads of blood weeping from under the cold metal.

Leon stood very very still, breathing as shallow as possible, the blade digging into his flesh every time he did so, his stormy eyes fixed on the blonde standing in front of him.

He didn't want to die, especially when Hollow Bastion is nearly finished, but, the way Cloud was looking at him right now, he knew it was a _very_ distinct possibility.

The blade slid from his neck, but the tip stayed against his skin, beads of blood clinging to it. Slowly, Cloud lifted the blade, letting it slither up Leon's neck. The brunette didn't move.

Leon felt the tip of the blade graze against his eyelashes, the sheen of the metal glinting in the corner of his eye as the tiny droplets of his blood that clung to the knife fell onto his cheek.

"Repeat what you just said," Cloud whispered, his voice barely audible, with no emotion, but lathered with warning. Leon stared at the blonde, feeling the blade graze against his eyelashes again. He'd have to be careful, or he'd lose an ear. _Minimum_.

Dragging his tongue over his dry lips, the brunette swallowed thickly, feeling the tiny droplets of blood weeping from the shallow cut in his neck spill over the wound and trickle down his neck.

"I want you to tell me you trust me," he breathed, eyes fixed on the glowing blue ones before him. Before he could continue, he felt the knife dig into the flesh just at the edge of his eye and he stopped everything. Thinking; breathing; _everything_.

"The fact that I said that I did, is completely ignored, is it?" Cloud asked, his voice soft and even. The hand that was holding the blade dangerously close to cutting out Leon's eye was steady, and it didn't move.

The brunette was silent for a few moments, keeping as quiet as possible, hoping that the blonde would not kill him for replying. "What you say is irrelevant," he breathed, swallowing as he felt the blade dig a little deeper into his skin, beads of blood welling up around it. He continued, regardless. "It's how you act."

"And how do I act, Leonhart?" Cloud asked.

Leon winced, his eyes closing for a moment. He didn't like it when Cloud used his last name when they were alone. He'd come to like the blonde using his first name. Whenever the blonde used his last name, Leon knew that he was either angry, or wanted to be alone.

Licking his lips and opening his eyes again, Leon let in a slow breath, the blood weeping from under the blade trickling down his cheek and gathering under his chin. "You act like I'm just another person."

The look that flickered across Cloud's eyes was barely decipherable, but Leon felt the blade gently trail down his cheek and away from his skin. His partner moved forward, their bodies not touching, but close enough that heat was exchanged. Cloud nudged his nose against Leon's, the hand holding the knife hanging by his side. "Do I?"

Nodding in return, Leon let his eyes slide shut as Cloud pressed a warm, gentle kiss against his mouth. "So," the blonde mumbled against his lips. "You want me to _show_ you that I trust you?"

"Yes," murmured the brunette, pressing a kiss against the blonde's lips. Leon felt something being pushed into his hand and his fingers forced to curl around it. Slowly, his hand was brought up, Cloud's own hand grasped around it, guiding it's movements, and the brunette pulled back to see what he was holding.

The bloody knife glinted in his hand. Cloud placed the knife against his own neck and his blood wept from around the blade.

Stormy eyes snapped to glowing blue ones. The blonde just gave him a small, half-smile.

The knife was guided downwards, cutting through Cloud's worn black shirt easily, slicing into a few layers of flesh in a single, slender line of scarlet. Finally, the blade cut through the last piece of material and the shirt slipped from the blonde's shoulders like a button-up shirt, revealing his smooth muscle and flesh.

The shirt hooked at Cloud's elbows, his whole torso exposed. Taking hold of Leon's hand once again, the blonde moved forward and pressed himself against the brunette, gently kissing him, holding the blade against his neck once again.

"Why are you doing this?" Leon whispered against Cloud's mouth, the blonde's hand fleeing from holding the brunette's up, the knife held just under Cloud's ear. Leon felt the blood leaking from the single, long, vertical cut down the blonde's torso seep into his shirt as Cloud's arms slipped around his middle and linked together at the small of his back.

"I trust you," the blonde mumbled, pressing gentle kisses along Leon's jaw, "not to kill me with that." To emphasise his point, he leant into the blade and the brunette quickly moved it away from where it would've undoubtedly pierced his neck and made him bleed to death.

Sighing, Leon eyed the blonde, who was looking at him with a very mildly smug expression. Raising the blade after a moment, the brunette slowly trailed the tip of the knife down Cloud's cheek, only just slicing into a few layers of skin, blood weeping from the broken flesh. Golden eyelashes fluttered, but Cloud did nothing to stop him.

Leaning forward, Leon pressed his lips against the bleeding skin, the blood clinging to his lips and melting into his mouth. Cloud closed his eyes and pressed closer to him.

On it went.

Cloud allowed Leon to cut him anywhere on his chest, stomach, face, neck or back, trusting him not to slash too deeply, not to make him bleed too much, or to nick any important tendons. After every cut, Leon would press a gentle kiss against the weeping skin, almost apologising for the pain he'd caused.

Eventually, Leon found himself cutting his name into Cloud's spine, the blonde leaning against him, his cheek against his shoulder, his eyelashes fluttering against the brunette's neck. Finishing the 'N' carefully, stormy eyes watched as blood leaked from the slightly deeper gashes.

"Shouldn't you write 'Squall' too?" whispered Cloud against him as Leon's fingers danced over the inflamed skin. The brunette shook his head in reply, and the blonde gently moved away from him; arms still wrapped around him, but chests no longer touching.

Raising a contempt eyebrow, Cloud was about to say something when Leon grazed the blade down his cheek again. Closing his piercing blue eyes, he waited for the blade to puncture his skin.

Instead, he felt warm lips press against the edge of his mouth and the blonde couldn't help but feel relieved. Leon gently grazed his lips down Cloud's jaw and came to a stop against his neck. Sweeping his tongue gently over the flushed skin, he sucked on the flesh directly over the quickening pulse.

Cloud's blue eyes fluttered open at the feeling, but he let them side closed again, burying his nose in the brunette's shoulder. One hickey couldn't do much harm.

In the spare room, Sora yawned, stretching on his small cot. Rubbing his hands at his eyes, the teen rolled onto his side and squinted at the clock hanging on the wall.

Five in the morning, thought Sora. _Phooey_.

Struggling to his feet and dodging Donald and Goofy's cots, Sora pulled the door open with as little noise as he could and stumbled down the hallway to the kitchen, a shuddering yawn racking through his body. A nice big glass of warm milk will help him sleep for a couple more hours.

Poking his head into the kitchen, Sora's bleary eyes fell upon a topless Leon, standing with his broad back to him, washing something in the sink. The teen rose his eyebrows. What was Leon doing up so early?

The older brunette glanced over his bare shoulder and the teen rose his eyebrows a little higher. "Morning," greeted Leon softly before removing the knife he was washing from under the drizzle of water in the sink, placing it in the drawer for the cutlery before turning off the tap.

"Morning..." mumbled Sora, walking into the kitchen and coming to a stop behind the older man. Leon turned around and rose his eyebrows questioningly at the teen.

The older man's stormy eyes flickered over Sora's head and the teen turned around. He could've sworn someone just disappeared down the hallway, but he only saw a smudge of black and white, and he didn't hear anything. A large hand dropped onto the teen's head and he looked back at Leon, eyes wide with curiosity.

Giving Sora a quick good-natured smile, Leon let his hand drop from the teen's head and he slipped out of the kitchen; padding down the hallway Cloud had disappeared down just after Sora had appeared. Thank god for that blonde and his ungodly hearing. Plucking his blood-smeared shirt from being hooked on his door-handle by Cloud and slipping into his room, the brunette rose a hand to trace the perfectly healed skin on his neck.

A confused scowl melted onto Sora's face as he stared at the doorway leading to the hallway. What was going on? They had a haunted kitchen? After a moment of complete and utter confusion, the thought of warm milk clicked back into his little mind and the possibility of a ghost flew out the window.

As Sora passed the sink, however, he couldn't help but be able to smell the strong, metallic stench of blood.

((TBC. Yes, I'm still working on the chapter coming after this, but, I thought I should update. This chapter wasn't supposed to be so emotional, but the music I was listening to changed the mood without my permission. Enjoy. I have discovered I like writing knife-play. The next chapter will, hopefully, be up in four days time, or maybe earlier. It's being very unhelpful and inconvenient. Read and enjoy.))


	20. Let Me Love You

The stars hanging over Traverse Town glittered and twinkled in their dark canopy. The small town glowed under the gases of the worlds and stars above it, the residents of the close-knit community inside and sleeping for the night, despite it being night all the time on this world.

Leon found himself strolling through First District, hands in his pockets as he jogged up the stairs and wound his way through the small streets of the town he used to live in. Pushing the large wooden gate of Second District open, the brunette stepped through and shouldered the gates closed again, eyeing his surroundings.

Stormy grey-blue eyes fell on the inn to his left and he strolled easily toward it, pushing the doors open before coming to a stop in front a specific door, turning the knob and walking in without knocking.

Cloud stood by the windows on the opposite side of the room as Leon stood half inside the room, half out. The blonde looked over his shoulder at the brunette, and the Gunblader rose his eyebrows simply in question.

With a simple flick of his wrist, Cloud motioned for Leon to enter and the brunette did so, closing the door behind him. The blonde made a circular motion with his hand, and Leon locked the door. With a small smirk, Cloud motioned for Leon to come forward.

Tired of being told what to do, but wanting to know what the hell the blonde wanted that merited leaving Hollow Bastion, Leon walked forward, but just as he passed the foot of the bed by the wall, he was shoved from the side, and he grunted as he landed on the plush blankets.

Rolling onto his back on the bed and raising a contempt eyebrow as he lifted himself onto his elbows, Leon sighed as Cloud stood in between his legs. Damn fast bastard.

Leon opened his mouth to ask the blonde if he was suffering from PMS, menopause, or any other feminine hormonal fluctuation that rendered the victim mentally unstable, but the moment he did, Cloud climbed onto his lap and shoved his shoulders against the plush blankets, pinning him down.

The two men stayed like that for a while; Cloud demonstrating pure dominance as he pinned the brunette to the bed, while Leon was as submissive as he thought the blonde wanted him to be.

"If you wanted me on the bed, you could've asked," Leon finally stated flatly.

Neither man had taken the step to actually have sex with the other, but the two of them often danced around the subject. Blowjobs had sufficed for seven months. Why should they?

Cloud had, once, while Leon had been checking on Hollow Bastion from Ansem's computer, explained in mind-numbing detail, leaning against the doorway casually, how homosexual sex worked, how it felt, and what was needed.

The brunette ended up hunched over the keyboard, head bowed, trying desperately to gain self-control as he heard the blonde's light-hearted laughter float down the hallway and out of range.

"You know I don't ask often," Cloud replied blandly before a small smirk glinted from his lips and he leant down, pressing an open-mouthed kiss against Leon's lips, placing his arms on either side of the brunette's head.

The blonde was immediately welcomed and Leon's hands slid up the other man's legs thoughtlessly as they bit and sucked on each other's tongues, Cloud pressing close gratefully, a gentle trill purring from his throat.

Finally, the blonde pulled back enough for both of them to breathe, trailing his slender nose down the brunette's cheek absentmindedly. Leon knew that his partner was a person who couldn't express himself in words well –Leon was the same– and often kept silent, but, the brunette had come to know that there were different kind of silences that came from Cloud.

The one that was emanating from his handsome partner now, was the hesitant and cautious one.

Raising a hand from fingering one of the blonde's belt-loops, Leon brushed his finger down Cloud's cheek, the blonde raising his unearthly blue eyes to look into Leon's own stormy grey-blue ones.

"What's wrong?" Leon murmured.

Beautiful blue eyes glinted from above the brunette, and Cloud shifted over him before rolling them over, Cloud now under Leon, who shifted so he knelt in between the blonde's legs, placing his arms on either side of his head. Leaning up and capturing the brunette's lips, Cloud leant back into the plush blankets as they kissed deeply, the kiss soft and gentle.

Finally, the two of them pulled away and Leon started pressing kisses down Cloud's jaw and neck, eyes closed, the blonde breathing gently into his ear.

"Fuck me."

Leon's eyes snapped open.

Very slowly, the brunette rose up and hung over Cloud, who was just laying there, eyes half-open, watching him with an unreadable expression.

"What?" asked Leon.

"Fuck me," repeated Cloud. His voice was deep and throaty, unlike his usual breathy, soft speech, but there was no raw emotion behind it. Just inklings.

Heat spread through the brunette's whole body, his heart starting to hammer in his chest. Swallowing, his mouth suddenly dry, Leon opened his mouth, but whatever he was about to say died before it could be said, Cloud claiming the brunette's lips in a forceful, slightly painful kiss.

Sinking his teeth into Leon's bottom lip, blood spilt into the blonde's mouth and Leon let out a muffled grunt, pushing the blonde back down against the bed, wrenching his mouth away from Cloud's, staring down at him with wide grey-blue eyes.

Leon's tongue slid along the shallow line of broken flesh in the inner-part of his lip, the taste of blood strong in his mouth as he stared down at Cloud, who just watched him, back pressed into the plush blankets.

Finally, the blonde shifted, sitting up with a sigh, Leon quickly leaning back on his knees, the blonde's spread legs bent on either side of him. Cloud's bright eyes watched him fixedly before they closed, letting his head fall forward, bowing.

Leaning forward after a moment, the brunette pressed his lips against the top of Cloud's head, ignoring the blood on his lips and the dull pain. "It's just a bit sudden," Leon mumbled against the silky, tickling short spikes. "It's not that I don't want to."

Slowly, Cloud lifted his head up, the two men's faces a bare hair's breadth away from each other. Ducking forward, the blonde pressed a quick, gentle kiss against Leon's bottom lip. "Sorry, Squall," he mumbled against the soft flesh.

"It's fine, Cloud," Leon breathed, stooping a little to catch the blonde's lips in a tender kiss, his hand sliding up the blonde's side as Cloud rose a hand to let his gloved fingers trail down the side of Leon's jaw.

"Why so intent?" whispered the brunette against the blonde's mouth, feeling Cloud's fingers dance over his neck and shoulders as his own stayed by the blonde's hips and back.

"I just want to," Cloud replied, dragging his hands down Leon's shoulders, also pulling the brunette's jacket off at the same time; with the same movement. "Last time I did something to you that I 'just wanted to do', you didn't really seem to protest."

"My mouth was occupied," Leon stated, allowing the other man to pull his jacket off completely and throw it onto the floor with the blonde's gloves.

"And rightly so," smirked the blonde, kicking off his boots and socks, letting them fall to the floor with a dual _thump_. Sighing, the brunette looked over his shoulder and tugged off his own boots, feeling Cloud shift closer; a warm, wet mouth attaching to the flesh just under his ear, Leon closing his eyes and trying to focus purely on his laces –such difficult things– as that talented tongue and those lips and those teeth licked, sucked and bit at his neck.

Finally, his boots and socks fell to the floor and he turned back to his blonde partner, who moved away from his neck a little. "You're an ass," Leon breathed as their noses brushed.

He didn't even get a protest. Cloud just rose his eyebrows in a way that said '_yes, so?_', his delicious smooth mouth spread in a smug smirk, his perfect white teeth glinting with a complacent air. Leaning forward to bite at those lovely lips, Leon captured Cloud's mouth and brought the other man into a demanding kiss.

During the kiss, the blonde had somehow unbuckled his shoulder-pad and let it fall to the bed, giving it a light shove, the piece of armoury falling off the bed and to the floor with a _bang_, the metal wolf emblem tinkling musically on the floor.

Separating smoothly, Cloud's smirk never wavered, raising a hand to grip at the front Leon's silver necklace, Griever; he slid backwards to the centre of the bed, leading the brunette forward by the warm, silver piece of jewellery. Finally, the blonde settled himself back into the plush blankets, pulling Leon on top of him, Griever biting into his naked fingers as the brunette slid in between his legs and hung over him, on all fours, silky brown hair spilling over his shoulders.

Fingers tightening on the sharp-edged lion medallion, Cloud pulled it down: the slender metal chain running around Leon's neck cutting into the flesh, pulling him down as well. Eventually, the brunette had to shift so his elbows were on either side of the blonde's head, his nose brushing Cloud's, the metal chain tangled around the blonde's fingers.

Pressing a kiss against Cloud's smooth neck, Leon shifted. Sliding one arm under the blonde's head and letting his weight focus on it and his legs, the brunette rose his other arm and trailed it down Cloud's chest, feeling the warmth under his leather-clad fingertips, and the blonde's pulse start to speed against his lips.

Every time Leon touched the blonde, Cloud's abnormally slow pulse would quicken and become stronger. It made Leon feel like he had power over him; like he could do anything to him.

Raising his hand to Cloud's own, Leon's smooth, warm fingers trailed over the warm metal cutting into the soft flesh of his partner's digits and slowly began to untangle the smooth chains, lifting himself up to claim Cloud's mouth again with a deep kiss.

Every movement was slow, purposeful and almost curious. Yes, the two of them had been naked together, but, it felt different this time.

Warmer.

Better.

_Safer_.

Cloud squirmed on the silken sheets, the blankets having been thrown to the floor with all the clothing, the blonde's smooth, naked back arching away from the sleek material and against hot, damp flesh. Leon pressed breathy kisses against Cloud's exposed neck, pumping the blonde's erection with a warm, slick hand, biting up Cloud's jaw to trust his tongue into his mouth, the blonde greedily kissing back, almost as if he was starved for affection.

The blonde swordsman still hadn't said why he specifically wanted to be fucked today, now, here. Leon had asked again just as the blonde yanked off his shirt, but all he got in reply was a possessive hand grabbing him through his tight leather pants and the brunette decided he deserved to get laid.

Dropping the blonde's erection, Leon let his hand fall onto the silken sheets again. Under him, Cloud let out a quiet snarl against his mouth and a hand shot up and gripped the side of the brunette's neck, his nails piercing the skin threateningly.

"_Patience_," the Gunblader whispered against his partner's lips, ignoring the pain shooting through the side of his neck and shoulder.

Raising his hand again, Leon flicked the drawer of the bedside table open, retrieving a small bottle of lubricant and a condom. Traverse Town was surprisingly well-equipped. The brunette lifted himself off Cloud slightly, but stopped when one of the blonde's hands grasped onto the hand that was holding onto the two items.

With the dexterity of a piano player, Cloud removed the condom from the brunette's fingers, holding between two of his own digits. Sharply, he flicked his fingers straight- the small plastic packet flying from his fingers, through the air, and falling onto the floor somewhere.

Leon didn't even get a moment to protest. Cloud just palmed him forcefully, making him moan deeply in his throat, and the blonde leant upwards, forcing the brunette's mouth open and delving into it with his tongue.

"Hurry the fuck up, would you?" Oh. Jokes in bed. Lovely. He wasn't even sure if that one was intentional.

The brunette supposed this was the reason Cloud had explained to him how sex between two males worked. Not just to make him sexually frustrated and barely able to stand up; just so that he actually _knew_.

As he stretched the tight ring of muscle with slick, lubricated fingers, Leon just watched Cloud's face fixedly, almost in awe at what he doing to the blonde. Cloud liked the mild pain from the stretching and was biting his lip so hard blood was seeping from under his teeth.

Running a finger over the blonde's prostate slowly, the brunette drew a tight breath as a low, broken moan tore itself from Cloud's throat, his head of golden hair thrown back against the silken sheets.

Finally –God, _finally_–, Leon pressed into the blonde, gritting his teeth and burying his nose into Cloud's shoulder as he slowly pushed himself, until completely sheathed, into his beautiful, blonde partner.

The sex was not slow, nor fast. Not painful, but not soft. Despite his vocalisations in the beginning that he wanted it fast and hard, Cloud said nothing during it. He just lay there, one arm curled around Leon's shoulders, the other between them, gripping at his own erection as he pumped himself in time to their sweet rhythm, pushing against Leon in time with the brunette's thrusts, heightening the friction; the _pleasure_.

Leon panted and groaned quietly against Cloud's shoulder, his messy locks of silky brown hair- matted and damp from sweat, sticking to his neck and cheeks. Cloud scraped his nails across Leon's spine, head bowed, soft mewls and gasps fluttering across the side of the brunette's neck, his lips pressed against the chain of Griever, the blonde's own hair sticking to his forehead and the back of his neck as their slick bodies slid against each other perfectly.

That flawless, quiet, broken intake of breath sounded by Leon's ear and the brunette immediately ducked up and caught Cloud's mouth with his own.

Their tongues darted against against each other heatedly until the brunette felt the blonde tighten around him and their lips wrenched away. Cloud arched up from the bed, head thrown back, mouth slightly open as Leon nearly pulled completely out and slammed back into him, sinking his teeth into the blonde's throat. Cloud's semen burst over their stomachs and the brunette followed a mere second later- both in complete silence.

The two men lay there, breathing deeply, hearts hammering against the other, the beats hardly seeming to slow, neither of them really wanting to move.

Smooth, slender fingers trailed down Leon's spine languidly, only barely touching the heated, sweaty skin. Slowly, the brunette shifted himself onto his elbows; cloudy, grey-blue eyes staring down at the misted blue ones beneath him.

The fingers stroked the back of the brunette's neck, threading through damp brown locks, tracing the barely-noticable ridges of his spine connecting to the back of his head. Leaning down obediently, Leon pressed a tender kiss against Cloud's lips, the blonde smiling contentedly under him.

"I... want to tell you something," the brunette whispered against his partner's lips, the two of them still connected, but neither doing anything to move away. Bright blue eyes stared up at him, and Cloud licked at Leon's lips questioningly.

Now was a good a time as any...

"Cloud, listen, I..." Leon swallowed. His mouth was suddenly very dry, his throat scratchy. It was hard to talk.

_I love you._

Stormy eyes looked down at Cloud and the blonde was deadly silent, his mouth only just open, eyes slightly widened, his chest still. He wasn't breathing.

Swallowing again, Leon opened his mouth to say it, but the blonde under him immediately ducked up and pressed an urgent, open-mouthed kiss against his lips, his fingers curling in the brunette's hair.

"Don't say it," Cloud mumbled desperately, almost begging. "_Please_ don't, Squall."

Staring as the blonde uncertainly let himself lay back down on the silken sheets: Leon had to admit, Cloud almost looked upset. Leaning down, the brunette pressed a tender soothing kiss against the blonde's lips. Very gently, Leon pulled out of Cloud, the blonde's long legs shifting on either side of him as he leant down and pressed a kiss against his chest.

Pulling a sheet over the two of them, letting it fall across their middles and legs, Leon lay on his stomach beside Cloud. He left a small distance between each of them; silently concerned over the blonde's plea, raising an arm and placing his cheek against it, beneath him like a pillow, Leon let his eyes fall closed.

Why had he been so upset over 'I love you'? Even if Leon hadn't vocalised it completely? And why had be been so insistent that they had sex? Come to think of it, nearly all of the steps in their relationship had been initiated by the blonde.

A gentle touch against his bare shoulder got Leon's grey-blue eyes to flutter open, and he saw Cloud laying right where he'd been when he closed them: the only difference being the blonde's face was turned towards him, his unearthly blue eyes on the brunette, and the hand that was closest was raised languidly and the back of one of his knuckles was placed gently against the warm skin of Leon's shoulder.

Leon watched as a small, almost shy smile spread across Cloud's mouth before the blonde bit on his lip, blue eyes flickering away, but his hand still placed against the brunette's shoulder.

After a moment, those blue eyes looked back at him; almost pleading for him to understand, his teeth worrying at his bottom lip.

_I love you too._

With a blink, Leon rose his cheek off his arm, eyebrows raised.

Swallowing, Cloud looked away, his face turning away from him, obviously uncomfortable, but his hand staying exactly where it was. Tearing his eyes from the beautiful blonde and looking down at the perfect, slender hand against his shoulder, Leon could only just see the remnants of the indents the chain of Griever had caused.

Cloud looked back at the brunette at the feeling of gentle lips pressing onto is fingers and a small smile warmed his features as he outstretched his fingers and let Leon place a warm kiss against the palm of his hand.

Shifting over and letting the back of blonde's hand rub soothingly up and down his shoulder, Leon pressed a kiss against Cloud's lips.

"I'm glad it's mutual," he mumbled against the blonde's soft lips breathily.

"And if it wasn't?" Cloud asked, pressing a quick kiss against the edge of brunette's mouth.

Leon blinked and drew away from the blonde a little, but was stopped when the other swordsman quickly cupped the back of his head, pressing their lips together, kissing deeply.

It was just a question.

"Again," Cloud mumbled against his lips throatily, his hand slowly dragging down the brunette's naked, warm body.

Leon wasn't one to refuse.

((TBC. The second-to-last chapter, and the longest one to date, AND the one that gave me the most trouble! I've noticed that nearly all of the most important things in this series are communicated non-verbally. Huh. This chapter is dedicated to Knit.Pump, who put up with my whining and moaning when I couldn't write this. My first time writing detailed gay sex, I think, so, be gentle with me! I tried not to make Cloud to submissive. Tell me if I suceeded! Read, enjoy and review!))


	21. Let Me Tell Them

With quiet footsteps, Leon slipped out of his bedroom and into Cloud's, neither doorway creaking, and no floorboard groaning. Grey-blue eyes squinted into the pitch blackness as he closed the door behind him and Leon waited patiently for his eyes to adjust.

Finally, he could see.

Lying on his side, facing Leon, was Cloud.

The blonde lay in the same position he was always in when he slept: one hand covering his eyes, the other placed against the sword which lay beside him. Leon knew that Cloud could never sleep well when there was light. That was the reason why he always covered his eyes. Apparently, it hurt him. Hurt his eyes to see the light.

Advancing on the blonde sleeper, the brown-haired Gunblade-weilder lowered his hand to cover the one that was placed against the smooth metal of the Buster sword. There was complete stillness; complete silence. A minute trickled by, Leon doing nothing. Simply waiting. Finally, one of Cloud's slender fingers raised just that little bit and stroked Leon's palm.

A smile warming his usually stern face, Leon let his hand ghost up the blonde's shoulder, coming to a stop to cup the side of Cloud's face. He always waited for the blonde to awake before touching him intimately. A blade through the chest was something that Leon wanted to avoid.

"I'm trying to _sleep_," whispered the blonde, but he did nothing to stop the brunette leaning over and pressing a warm kiss against his lips. "And so should you," Cloud added as Leon trailed his smooth fingers over the blonde's cheek.

"Couldn't sleep," Leon said, pressing gentle, feather-light kisses over the blonde's knuckles, the fingers covering his eyes flexing that tiny bit, still hiding those beautiful blue eyes.

"Do I want to know what you want me to do to fix it?" Cloud asked, a tiny smirk twitching at his smooth lips, granting the brunette with a glint of white teeth. It was barely three in the morning, but neither man really cared.

Leaning over and pressing a tender kiss against the blonde's throat, Leon straitened up again. "Just stay still," he whispered.

Rounding the bed, he slipped onto it behind Cloud, rolling onto his side and pressing a kiss against the back of other swordsman's neck. Sliding a hand up Cloud's leg, he let his arm slip around the blonde's middle, his fingers dancing over a taught stomach.

Closing his eyes and pressing another soft kiss against the back of the blonde's neck, Leon pressed his nose in between Cloud's shoulder-blades, against soft black material, breathing in the musky scent of the blonde, and let himself relax against the swordsman's unmoving, warm body.

They'd been together for at least a year.

It was still a secret.

"You promised," Leon whispered.

Unearthly blue eyes opened behind slender fingers.

It was the fifth time the brunette had said it. Every line perfectly spaced with at least a few weeks or more in between.

Leon felt Cloud take a deep breath before slowly letting it out, his ribcage trembling ever so slightly under the brunette's arm.

"Not yet," the blonde mumbled.

That was his customary answer.

Grey-blue, stormy eyes opened and stared at the crumpled black fabric in front of him. _When?_ Leon felt Cloud shift; the blonde's smooth shoulder rotating, before the brunette felt a hand slide up his thigh soothingly, catching on his simple shorts and pushing them a little higher. Cloud's hand stayed there, cold from being against the blade of his sword for all this time; the hand placed against Leon's leg, keeping the brunette there. Against him.

Closing his eyes again, Leon let his hand slide under the fabric of the blonde's shirt and placed his palm perfectly against Cloud's chest, the warm flesh underneath his hand burning at his fingers as a beat of that heart pulsed under his palm.

"You promised," Leon whispered again.

Cloud stared at his fingers, stroking the thumb of his other hand over the warm flesh of the brunette's leg under it. The blonde closed his eyes again, the Gunblader's soft breathing against his spine lulling him to sleep.

"Not yet," he repeated breathily.

Hollow Bastion finally claimed it's rightful name once again.

Radiant Garden glimmered with the effort and heart of all the people living there; all the boulders moved, walls fixed, houses mended- everything was _done_. _Finished_. The world looked just as beautiful as it did before. Heartless occasionally popped up, but in fewer numbers than before.

The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee held a celebration after they'd finished. Complete with Aerith's cooking, a few bottles of spirits- courtesy of a semi-reluctant Cid, and Sora even came and visited before he was called away again by his Keyblade.

The celebration continued on through the night, Yuffie clinging to Tifa, laughing over something none of them could discern, Tifa stumbling because of the extra weight, both the girl's glasses of alcohol sloshing over the edges and onto the floor.

Cid passed out over his computer and couldn't be awoken for the life of him, the two bottles of tequila he'd inhaled earlier dulling his senses immensely, oblivious to the computer's keyboard digging into his jaw. Sora, Donald and Goofy had popped around earlier and shared a meal, but, luckily, none of them had been that drunk back then.

Aerith had kept her alcohol-consumption to a bare minimum, but, despite that, it didn't stop her from behind yanked down onto the couch with Tifa and Yuffie, the three girls tickling at eachother mercilessly and laughing.

Merlin was floating, dead asleep, by the light hanging from the ceiling: a bottle of Port Royal's best rum clutched to his chest, the occasional amber-coloured bubble floating from the magician's mouth to change into the shape of a butterfly before popping, showering his beard with golden sparkles.

Leon stood by the oven, glass of brandy in hand, eyes roaming over the Committee, a warm smile tugging at his lips as he watched Yuffie pounce on an unmoving Cid and start to play with the man's goggles before putting them on and promptly falling on top of a giggling Tifa and Aerith.

Smile melting off again, stormy eyes slowly floated to the side- looking through the window to see the moonlight-soaked street outside, eyes roaming the blue-white toned stones. Finally raising his eyes enough, Leon saw a shock of golden hair high above the stairs.

Looking back at the girls just in time to see Tifa and Aerith gang up on Yuffie and start to beat the squealing girl with pillows, Leon placed his glass on the table in the kitchen and slipped noiselessly outside.

Boots tapping up the stairs, Leon finally came to the platform that lead to the tunnel to the bailey, Cloud standing on the edge of the stone wall that separated Radiant Garden from the wide, purple stone land spanning widely beneath it. The wire-fencing that had been placed along the stone wall had been moved, and the crane that sat by it had been removed too, leaving naught but smooth stone.

The blonde swordsman's back was facing Leon, Cloud's hands in his pockets, standing perfectly on the stone wall- almost like a statue.

Advancing slowly, Leon rose a hand and let his fingers drag down the side of the blonde's leg, feeling the strong muscle hidden under loose black fabric. Stormy eyes looking up, the brunette could see Cloud's unearthly blue eyes staring over the dark horizon before they lowered down to Leon.

With a small smile, Cloud motioned for the brunette to get up onto the wall too, the blonde swordsman shifting so he was facing Leon, his hands falling from his pockets to hang by his sides. Leon rose an eyebrow in question and the blonde just gave him his patented 'do what I say. You'll like it. I promise,' look.

With a quick roll of his grey-blue eyes, Leon jumped up onto the wall beside Cloud, soon feeling a warm, leather-clad hand curling around his forearm. Looking at the blonde, he got a quick half-smile in reply as those slender fingers gently kneaded into his skin.

The two of them had become bolder with showing their affection when they weren't hiding behind closed doors, but the blonde still didn't want anyone to know.

Leon went to lean forward to press his mouth against Cloud's, but the blonde took a quick step back, a smirk tugging at his smooth lips. The brunette wasn't amused. Smirk widening, Cloud dropped Leon's warm arm and easily walked briskly backwards along the wall, eyes locked with Leon's own, coming to a stop by the lookout-tower connected to the wall.

With a smug little wink, the blonde turned around and jumped onto the tower.

Staring up at the sky with an exasperated gaze, Leon let out a quiet growl. He hated games. Sighing, the Gunblader walked across the wall and jumped onto the tower too, arms crossed, really _not_ in the mood for all this.

Cloud stood there; bright blue eyes on him, before the blonde rose a hand and gripped one of Leon's own, dragging the brunette over to him. Leon took a few extra steps and the blonde ended up pressed between Leon and the wall surrounding the edge of the tower, their bodies pressed together, hearts beating against one-another.

"_Squall_," Cloud breathed in a slow voice, trying to ignore each of the brunette's hands- one of which trailed over his side to spread over his hip, the other sliding up to cradle the back of his neck. He smelt like brandy and it made Cloud's head swim a little, his heart beating faster.

Leon nudged his nose against the blonde man's- stormy eyes, half-open, staring into those glowing blue ones. "Hm?"

Smiling, Cloud pressed a quick kiss against the brunette's lips before pulling back again, looking to the side. "Look."

Grey-blue eyes following the blonde's gaze, Leon stared from his place high on the tower, his eyes able to roam over every street of Radiant Garden, every home- the whole town quiet and content. "Look," Cloud told him. "Look at what you've finished. What you've _made_."

A smile spread across the Gunblader's face. From the ground, his work seemed just superfluous. Like it didn't matter. Too little, too late. From here, he could see how big the town was. And just how much he'd done.

Looking back at the blonde in his arms, Leon eyed Cloud as the other man fingered Griever's chain mindlessly, blue eyes roaming over the chest in front of him. Pressing forward, Leon placed a gentle kiss against the blonde's forehead, nuzzling the golden spikes of hair that tickled his nose. "Thank you," he mumbled, moving back again.

All he got was a simple shrug. "You can pay me back later," the blonde smirked, his teeth and eyes glinting in a smug manner that spelt out that Leon would be in pain in the near future, or naked, or very warn out– _or_ all at once.

Smirk tugging at his lips, the Gunblader's stormy eyes roamed over Cloud's face before the smirk slowly melted off. Almost like someone had whispered lies to him, pulling him away. The blonde noticed the other man's change and rose his eyebrows simply in question, his slender fingers tracing the outlines of Griever in the warm metal pendant.

Licking his suddenly dry lips, Leon glanced away before looking back at the blonde in his arms.

"You promised," he murmured.

Blue eyes stared unwaveringly at him. Cloud's face was blank- no emotion on his face, nor in his eyes. It was like he was made of _ice_. Slender fingers had stopped, frozen over the lion pendant hanging from Leon's neck; unmoving.

Finally, Cloud's eyes slowly closed and he tilted his head ever so slightly away from the other man, his blue eyes slowly dragging open again, staring somewhere into the distance over Leon's shoulder.

"Not yet," he said.

Leon was starting to hate that statement. "What are you so _afraid_ of!" the brunette hissed through his teeth without a thought.

Cloud's eyes snapped back to him.

It was dangerous to call _any_ warrior a coward, but especially not the Buster-sword-weilding man himself. Leon was quite sure he'd at least lose a limb or more for such a thoughtless statement, but after a few tense moments where the blonde's eyes just stared into his own, Cloud let his eyes fall to his feet.

"... Honestly?" Cloud whispered, fingers picking at the white material covering Leon's chest. The brunette blinked in surprise, but that didn't stop him nodding, urging the blonde to continue, Leon's fingers gently kneading into Cloud's neck.

A tiny, almost loathsome smirk flickered across the blonde man's face before he looked back up at the brunette, all of his emotions locked back; hidden. For Cloud and _only_ Cloud to know about.

"For something bad to happen."

Something inside Leon clenched when he saw not a flicker of emotion behind those eyes. The blonde was as open as he could be with the brunette, but sometimes the walls just snapped up around him and stopped anyone seeing anything. It _hurt_ Leon not to be able to see.

"Why do you think--?" he began to ask, but Cloud cut him off with a sharp tone.

"Look at it from my point of view," the blonde snapped, his emotions leaking through the cracks, jumbling together; mixing, making his eyes flicker and glow with raw power.

"You have feelings for me, I never thought you actually would." Leon felt the need to open his mouth, but the way Cloud was talking forced him to be quiet and let the blonde say as much as he wanted. "Sephiroth is gone, thank God," Cloud continued. "We're together. Never thought that'd happen. Hollow Bastion just got finished. All because of you. _And_, Sora said that he was close to locking Kingdom Hearts again."

The blonde fixed him with an unwavering stare. "See the pattern?" he asked.

Leon really didn't, but he didn't need to say anything, because the other man was already talking again. He was slowly starting to sound hysterical.

"They're all _good_ things!" Cloud hissed, his teeth bared before he threw his head back, blue eyes staring up at the dark, starry sky. "Good things," he repeated to himself quietly, almost seeming fascinated about how those two the words slipped off his tongue. "I _hate_ good things!" he barked at the sky, almost as if he was blaming it.

He let his head fall back into place and he fixed the silent Leon with a burning glare. "Have you any idea how much it hurts to get used to good things, and then have it shatter under your feet?" The brunette just watched him, and the blonde quickly went back to speaking. He was almost yelling now.

"It _hurts!_ Bad things always come back and shatter the good. It's how it is! I don't like it, but that's how it's been for me!" Cloud dragged in a shaky breath, fingers clutching the material of Leon's shirt, the tiny hints of tears glinting from the edges of his eyes.

"Something bad will happen to shatter what we have, Squall," Cloud said with a forcefully even voice, the blonde swallowing thickly. "I don't see why we should tell them about something that will eventually be _gone_."

Leon stayed silent for a few moments, waiting for the blonde to continue, but he didn't. The brunette's face was wooden, almost icy. Finally, he took a breath. "Why are you with me, then?" he asked.

Cloud blinked.

"If you think it'll end, why not stop it before you get too attached?" The Gunblader was trying his best not to sound bitter. He leant close. "Because you want it to last as long as it can, right?" he whispered.

The blonde could smell the alcohol on Leon's breath. He knew it wasn't enough to affect the brunette's thoughts; just make his inhibitions seem just that little bit less-important. Cloud swallowed thickly and nodded.

"Exactly," Leon stated flatly. Not making a move to lean back, the hand cupping the back of Cloud's neck gently threading through the short spikes tickling at his glove. "You want the happiness you get when you're with me to last. Why not let other people share in that?"

There was a quiet snort of disbelief. "How can you share happiness?" Cloud asked shortly. "It's not food."

"You remember when Sora said he'd found Riku?" Leon asked, letting his fingers rake over the blonde's ear and through silky hair. Cloud blinked at him in reply. "Didn't you feel happy for him?"

Blue eyes staring at the brunette's shoulder in thought, the blonde looked back at Leon after a moment. "I suppose..."

With a nod, the brunette moved forward again and pressed a tender, chaste kiss against Cloud's lips.

"That's how it'll be for the others when they find out about us," he murmured against the blonde's soft mouth. "Hopefully."

The two swordsmen just stood there for a long moment, kissing gently under the dark, starry sky, bodies fitting together perfectly like they were made for one-another, hands slowly dragging over smooth muscle and warm clothing.

"Hopefully?" Cloud finally asked as they pulled apart, one hand tangled in the brunette's brown hair, the other gripping the lion pendant hanging around his neck.

Leon shrugged. "Tifa _might not_ be so chuffed."

Cloud broke into a good-natured grin.

"Cid might not like the thought of you being a fag, either," the brunette continued.

"Just me?" smirked the blonde. "Not you too?"

"Hey." Leon gave the other man a light poke in the chest. "I preferred women until you came around. I still do, as far as I'm concerned." He smirked. "You're pretty enough to be one, so, I hardly think I'm a gay."

The brunette got a bruise across his cheek a split-second later, and inside Merlin's house, Yuffie; who was drawing butterflies wobbly onto Cid's face with a red pen –her eyes kept on going out of focus. It was a little hard to draw like that, but with her _mighty-awesome_ ninja-skills, she persevered– vaguely thought she could hear the sound of a fist-fight outside.

Two days later, after everyone had slept off their hangovers and the living-room had been properly cleaned and refurnished, everyone was called into the room, and were all sitting in a circle in the comfy couches –save for Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku and the like. They were working on closing Kingdom Hearts–.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Leon, who was the one who told them to come. The brunette was staring down at his feet, thinking silently on how which words to use. Finally, Yuffie got bored of the silence and the slight fog of tension floating over them and piped up. "Why'd you want us here again, chief?"

Grey-blue eyes snapping up to drag over Cid, Yuffie, Tifa, Areith and Merlin, the brunette let out a quiet sigh.

"I've got something I think I should tell you," he said, eyeing the people around him.

Yuffie blinked. "Spit it out, then, Leon," she said.

Unfortunately for her, the male brunette was finding this far more difficult than he'd expected, still trying to find out just how to use delicate words, but still get across the idea of 'hey, Strife and I have been screwing each-other like rabbits for around a six months now. You cool with that?'. The ninja looked to the person sitting at Leon's side for information.

"You know what he's talking about, Cloudie?"

Cloud sat silently by Leon's side on the same couch- a hands width between the two men. The blonde was silent as he had his arms crossed over his chest, eyes staring fixedly at the coffee-table in between them all. Blue eyes flickering up to Yuffie at her question, he slowly dragged his unearthly blue eyes to stare at Leon's profile.

The blonde said nothing, just eying the other man, as though waiting for something.

That was _not_ what Yuffie wanted at all. Slapping a hand sharply onto Tifa's knee, which was beside her own, but damned as hell she wasn't slapping her _own_ knee or Cid's, she pouted and ignored the bosomy brunette beside her, who let out a squeak at the sudden pain in her thigh. "_Speak_, man!" the ninja barked.

Cid slumped against the arm of the recliner he sat in, eyebrow raised. Yuffie continued pouting from her place beside him. Tifa rubbed her red knee quietly, a cup of tea held in her other hand. Aerith sat beside Tifa, watching everything play out with beautiful green eyes, a teacup clasped in her lap, and Merlin sat beside Aerith, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

Licking his dry lips, Leon stared down at the floor for a while longer before finally straitening up, a plan in his mind, and let his back sink into the couch beside him, looking to Cloud with stormy eyes.

Everyone watched his movements and were shocked when he rose a gloved hand and gently took one of Cloud's, making the blonde uncross his arms, Cloud doing utterly nothing to stop him.

Sweeping his thumb gently over Cloud's own hand, which was ever so slightly stiff, Leon looked into the blonde's unearthly blue eyes to see Cloud watching him silently; _uncertainly_. He still didn't want to do this, but, he trusted Leon. The brunette gave the blonde a quick, reassuring smile and leant toward him, tenderly pressing a kiss against Cloud's cheek.

Pulling back again, Leon stayed close to the blonde, eyeing him as Cloud looked at him silently, their breaths mingling and wafting over the other's face. To his surprise, the blond swordsman nudged his nose against the brunette's, pressing a gentle kiss against the edge of his mouth.

"I trust you," Cloud breathed, barely audible. "You know that, right?"

A smile tugging at his mouth, Leon pressed a tender kiss against the blonde's mouth, letting his other hand rake through those silky spikes, _feeling_ more then hearing the quiet trill of contentment from the blonde as Cloud pressed back.

"Yeah," the brunette agreed against Cloud's mouth, pulling back slowly. "I know."

A smile tugging at the edges of his supple mouth, the blonde watched him with unearthly blue eyes before quite suddenly something snapped into place in his head and his pupils shot wide in shock, almost making his whole eyes black before he snapped his eyes and face to look directly in front of him.

The Restoration Committee stared back.

They _saw_.

They _knew_.

Actions spoke better than words. Leon knew that. That's why he did what he did.

Cid sat on his recliner, mouth hanging slightly open, cigarette dangling dangerously from his lips, face blank with shock. Yuffie, beside him, wasn't as mild in her surprise. It looked like her jaw was unhinged and her eyes were on the verge of popping out of her skull. Tifa sat there beside the ninja, eyes wider than they usually were, her whole body rigid.

Aerith was smiling. Her bright green eyes were glittering, and she looked like she was glowing- almost as though she'd known all along. Merlin sat beside the flower-girl, white eyebrows a little raised, but not looking shocked; merely contemplative.

Leon felt Cloud's pulse quicken by the blonde's hand which he was holding. Giving the soft appendage a gentle, soothing squeeze, he just waited and watched the committee for any reaction other than stunned silence.

Tifa was the first to come back to reality. The beautiful woman let out a quiet cough and she placed her teacup on the coffee-table in front of her. She mumbled something about getting more tea and got out of her seat quickly, hurrying out of the living-room and passing through the kitchen, into the hall, disappearing into her room, the door clicking closed behind her.

A flickering of something danced in the depths of Cloud's blue eyes as he stared after Tifa, his face wooden. He looked back at the coffee-table, where, sitting innocently, was a completely full teakettle beside the lady-brunette's empty teacup. He said nothing as he felt Leon's fingers gently knead into his hand in a comforting manner.

Cid was next. He rose a hand and grabbed his cigarette which nearly dropped out of his mouth, licking his lips and blinking a few times. He then eyed the two men sitting before him and let out a grunt. "No sex on my computer. Got it?"

Cloud blinked, but Leon nodded. "Wouldn't dream of it," he said.

The grouchy man nodded, heaving himself out of his recliner to shuffle over to said piece of machinery, plopping himself onto the seat in front of it, fingers dancing over the keys in a blur as words flew over the screen.

That went better than expected, thought Leon. Glancing back to the blonde at his side, the Gunblader noticed that Cloud's eyes were staring fixedly at Aerith. Leon too looked at the flower-girl, and her warm smile seemed to widen.

"I'm glad you two finally decided to come out about it," she smiled, her voice warm and comforting. Not condescending, despite her words.

Cloud stared. "How did you know?" he asked albeit hesitantly.

With a quiet giggle, the flower-girl traced her fingers over the designs in her teacup which was in her lap, her smooth lips forming into a beautiful smile. "Love is hardly something you can hide, Cloud."

"It's like an aura," agreed Merlin, watching the two swordsmen with a thoughtful gaze. "Beautiful, and unseen by people who can't notice the signs."

"It was all over you both," continued Aerith gently. "And since they both got stronger the same night- it was rather easy to guess who you were in love with." She sounded almost proud of them. Delighted.

A quiet strangled sound alerted them that Yuffie was still struggling with the information.

Aerith placed her teacup onto the table and slipped beside the ninja. "You okay, dear?" she asked soothingly. Yuffie let out a squeak. Aerith nodded. "Yes, they love each-other." Another strangled sound. "I know that it is sudden." A whistle-like sound. "I agree! They do look rather cute."

Cloud's eyebrows shot up. "'_Cute_'!" he hissed, eyes wide with horror. Leon bit back a scowl.

After a few soothing rubs from Aerith, Yuffie finally came to terms with the fact that Leon and Cloud were 'together'. The moment it clicked, her face promptly went beet-red and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Kiss again!" she gushed, waving her hands at them, an enormous grin plastered on her face, clearly quite overjoyed with this new outlet of entertainment. "_Again!_"

The blonde swordsman was about to tell her to sod off –a little less politely with _more_ than a few less-than-nice words thrown in–, but his chin was quickly grasped by the brown-haired Gunblader and his mouth was promptly being violated by Leon's tongue. Not that he minded, of course.

Neither man really heard the squeal that exploded from the hyperactive ninja, the embarrassed cough from Merlin, or saw the pretty little rosy flush that appeared on Aerith's cheeks.

As Leon dragged his hand slowly down the blonde man's chest and felt the speeding pulse under his fingers, he heard Cloud's words echo in his mind. '_Something bad will happen to shatter what we have, Squall._' He pressed closer to the blonde, nails digging into his side.

He didn't care.

If something was going to screw up what they had, he'd fight it with every breath he had; every glimmer of light; every ounce of strength. Making it as memorable for Cloud as he could; making the blonde happy for as long as he could was the only thing on his mind.

"I'd do anything for you," Leon whispered against Cloud's swollen lips. "You know that, don't you?"

The blonde nodded against him, letting Leon press closer again, but didn't say what was on his mind.

_You shouldn't, Squall. I'll hurt you in the end._

((THE END. I do believe my fingers just died from the terrible longness of this, and the very slow start. But, I want to thank you all for all your just downright squeal-inducing reviews and support, and tell you I have some good news for you, and bad news for my atrophied fingers: I have a _sequel_ to this story glinting and winking prettily at the back of my mind. I'll start writing it up in the near-future, so, look out for it if you feel like it. Read, review, and most importantly, ENJOY!))


End file.
